
The 

Constitution 

OF THE 




The Constitution of the 
Reformed Church in America 



Explanatory Note. 



After the necessary preliminary legislation the General Synod 
in November, 1867, adopted the title page and prefatory note 
herewith printed as a part of the Constitution. (Minutes, pp. 
333-4- 50 

In 1871 a committee was appointed by the Synod to revise 
the Constitution. (Minutes, p. 278.) 

In 1872 this committee reported to the Synod. The report was 
accepted, and the Constitution as amended was adopted, ordered 
to be printed in the minutes, and submitted to the Classes for 
approval. (Minutes, pp. 488-9; appendix, p 571.) 

In i8yj final action was deferred, additional amendments 
proposed, and the whole again submitted to the Classes. 
(Minutes, pp. 721-2.) 

In 1874 the consent of a majority of the Classes having been 
obtained, the General Synod declared " the said revised Consti- 
tution adopted," excepting only Art. VII., Sec. 4, and Art. VIII., 
Sec. 4 (relating to Deputati Synodi). (Minutes, pp. 107-8-9.) 

Additional amendments to the Organic Law and the Liturgy 
have since been made, and the entire Constitution now in force, 
as set forth in the title page, is issued by the Board of Publica- 
tion R. C. A., as a whole, or in separate portions, as purchasers 
may desire. 



The Constitution 

OF THE 

Reformed Church 

In America 

f KNOWN FOR A TIME AS THE " REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH," AND ALSO 
DESIGNATED IN THE ACT OF INCORPORATION PASSED BY 
THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW YORK, APRIL 7, 1 8 1 9, 
AS " THE REFORMED PROTESTANT 
DUTCH CHURCH ") 

EMBRACING 

THE CATECHISM, THE COMPENDIUM, THE 
CONFESSION OF FAITH, THE CANONS 
OF THE SYNOD OF DORD- 
RECHT, AND THE LITURGY 



[Note: This volume contains only the Title Page, the Pref- 
atory Note and the Organic Law of the Constitution ; with an 
Appendix comprising: 

I. Formularies. III. Order of Business. 

II. Rules of Order. IV. Permanent Resolutions.] 



NEW YORK 
BOARD OF PUBLICATION OF 
THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA 
25 East 22D Street 

1905 



.As? 




Prefatory Note. 



In the year 1867, the Reformed Dutch Church, 
which is named in the following pages, dropped from 
its ecclesiastical name the word "Dutch," which was 
first formally assumed therein in the year 1792, and 
added the words "in America," so that the said 
Church might thenceforth be known as "The Re- 
formed Church in America." (See Art. IX., Sec. 1.) 
Yet, in order that the absolute identity of " The Re- 
formed Church in America" with "The Reformed 
Dutch Church " might be subject to no possible doubt 
or dispute, it was also ordained, that the epithet 
" Dutch " should be retained in all those places in this 
Constitution in which it had previously been used ; but 
should be inclosed in brackets, to indicate the purpose 
of the Church to discourage the ecclesiastical and 
popular use of the word as part of its name. 



Contents. 



ARTICLE I. 

OF THE OFFICES IN THE CHURCH. 

SEC I. What the offices in the Church are. 

ARTICLE II. 

OF MINISTERS OF THE WORD. 

Who is allowed to officiate. 
Students for the ministry. 
Examinations for licensure. 
Formula of subscription for same. 
Certificate of same. 

Dispensations from certain requirements may be granted. 
Candidates are not to administer the Sacraments, nor 

may not be delegates to Ecclesiastical Assemblies. 
Are under control of the Classis. 
Examination for ordination. 
Formula of subscription for same. 
Manner of ordination, and certificate of same. 
Duties of ministerial office. 
Forbids ordination sine titulo. 
A Minister may be declared emeritus. 
How a dismission is to be obtained. 
Equality of all ministers. 

Whom vacant churches may invite to officiate. 
7 



Sec. i. 
2. 

3- 
4- 

5- 
6. 

7- 

8. 

9- 
io. 
ii. 

12. 

*3- 
14. 

»S- 
16. 

17- 



8 



CONTENTS. 



18. What licentiates or Ministers may not be received by 

the Classes. 

19. Examination of Licentiates and Ministers from other 
churches. 

ARTICLE III. 

OF TEACHERS OF THEOLOGY. 

By whom and how they are to be appointed. 
Terms of office. 

Formula of subscription for such. 

Cannot be pastors or members of any ecclesiastical as- 
sembly. 
Mode of resigning the office. 
Ecclesiastical relations of such. 



Sec. 1. 
2. 

3- 
4- 

5- 
6. 



ARTICLE IV. 

OF THE OFFICES OF ELDERS AND DEACONS. 

Sec. i. Duties of the Elders. 

2. Duties of the Deacons. 

3. Who are eligible to these offices. 

4. Mode of election in forming new churches. 

5 Modes of election in churches already organized. 

6. Term of office limited. 

7. One half of the number to be elected annually. 

ARTICLE V. 

OF ECCLESIASTICAL ASSEMBLIES IN GENERAL. 

Sec. I. Specifies three kinds 

2. What business may be done. 

3. Must begin and conclude with prayer. 

4. Members must have credentials signed by those who 

send them. 

5. The officers and their duties. 

6. The jurisdiction of each kind of assembly. 

7. Protests forbidden, but ayes and noes may be recorded. 



CONTENTS. 



9 



ARTICLE VI: 

OF CONSISTORIES. 

Sec. I. Who form a Consistory. 

2. The joint and the respective powers of Elders and 

Deacons. 

3. Not to be constituted without advice of Classis. 

4. What constitutes a quorum. 

5. Duties of Ministers and Elders — censura moruin. 
* 6. Terms of admission to full communion. 

7. Registries to be kept and reports made. 

8. Minutes to be kept and laid before Classis. 

9. Members removing must obtain a certificate of dismis- 

sion. X ' .' ' 

10. Consistories have the right to call Ministers. 

11. Steps to be taken in making a call. 

12. Form of a call. 

13. Heidelberg Catechism to be explained. 

14. Ipso facto dismissions of ministers. 

15. Of Consistories united in calling a Minister. 

16. Great Consistory and its powers. 



ARTICLE VII. 

OF THE CLASSIS. 

Sec 1. What constitutes a Classis. 

2. Powers of a Classis. 

3. Its examination of students and candidates. 

4. Subscriptions to the formulas to be recorded. 

5. Special meetings. 

6. Ordinary meetings. 

7. Yearly inquiries to be made of each Minister and Elder, 

and answer recorded. 



10 



CONTENTS. 



ARTICLE VIII. 

OF THE PARTICULAR SYNOD. 

Sec. I. Its Constitution, and quorum. 

2. Its powers. 

3. Correspondence with other Synods. 

4. To inspect Classical minutes, and report to General 

Synod. 

5. Stated and special meetings. 

ARTICLE IX. 

OF THE GENERAL SYNOD. 

Sec. i. Its Constitution. 

2. Condition of membership. 

3. Its stated meetings and quorum. 

4. Its powers. 

5. May grant dispensations to Classes in mission fields. 

6. How a special meeting may be called. 

ARTICLE X. 

OF CUSTOMS AND USAGES. 

Sec. I. How baptism is to be administered. 

2. How the Lord's Supper is to be administered. 

3. How often the Lord's Supper is to be administered. 

4. The order of worship prescribed. 

5. What Psalmody may be used. 

6. What Catechisms may be used. 

ARTICLE XI. 

OF DISCIPLINE IN GENERAL. 

Sec 1. Nature and object of discipline. 

2. Founded only upon Scripture. 

3. Who are amenable to the Church. 



CONTENTS. 



ARTICLE XII. 

OF OFFENSES. 

Sec. i. What are private offenses. 

2. Preliminary proceedings required. 

3. Penalty for neglect of these. 

4. Public offenses defined. 

5. In these, no previous steps required. 

6. What is fania clamosa. 

7. Principal offenses for which the punishment is suspen- 

sion or removal from office. 

8. Rule in 1 Tim. v. 19 to be observed. 

9. Duty of Consistories in case the Minister has committed 

public gross sin. 

10. Duty of consistories in case an Elder or Deacon is thus 

guilty. 

11. Conviction of crime by a civil court works suspension 

ipso facto. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

OF PROCESS AND TRIAL. 

Sec. i. Ways in which process may begin. 

2. Charges must be accurately defined and specified. 

3. Caution to be used in receiving accusations. 

4. How citations are to be issued. 

5. Rights of the accused. 

6. Nature of a second citation when the first is disre- 

garded. 

7. A commission may be appointed to take testimony at a 

distance. 

8. How many witnesses required — their evidence to be 

recorded — may be sworn or affirmed. 

9. Statute of limitation. 

10. What counsel may be employed. 

1 1. When suspension or excommunication may be imposed. 

12. The various steps in excommunication. 

13. The way of restoring a penitent excommunicated person. 



12 



CONTENTS. 



ARTICLE XIV. 

APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS. 

Sec. I. Individuals or judicatories may appeal. 

2. Notice of intention to appeal must be given. 

3. The appeal and reasons of appeal must be sent to the 

president of the body appealed from. 

4. An appeal may lie over till another meeting. 

5. Judicatories trying original cases or appeals must re- 

cord the reasons for their decisions. 

6. Judicatories whose decision is appealed from must 

transmit a certified copy of their action to the next 
higher court. 

7. Judicatories may send commissioners to explain their 

action. 

8. In certain cases, Particular Synods are courts of final 

appeal. 

9. Objections to incidental decisions must be noted. 

10. Voters in a lower court not to vote in the higher in an 

appellate case. 

11. Complaints allowed from others than the parties. 

12. Such complaints bring up the whole record of the case. 

13. Notice of complaint must be given. 

ARTICLE XV. 

OF RULES AND AMENDMENTS. 

Sec. i. General Synod authorized to do what is needful to 
carry the Constitution into effect. 
2. How alterations may be made. 



Introduction. 



For the maintenance of good order in the Church 
of Christ, it is necessary there should be certain Of- 
fices and Assemblies, and a strict attention to Doc- 
trines, Sacraments, Usages, and Christian Discip- 
line ; of all which the following ecclesiastical ordi- 
nances particularly treat. 



ARTICLE I. 



OF THE OFFICES IN THE CHURCH. 

Sec. t. The offices in the Church are fourfold, 
viz : 

1. The Office of Ministers of the Word. 

2. The Office of Teachers of Theology. 

3. The Office of Elders. 

4. The Office of Deacons. 



15 



16 



CONSTITUTION. 



I ART. 11. 



ARTICLE II. 

OF MINISTERS OF THE WORD. 

Sec. i. No person shall be allowed to exercise the 
office of a Minister, without being thereinto regularly 
inducted, according to the Word of God, and the order 
established by the Church, 

Sec. 2. Every person contemplating the work of 
the ministry, before he commences his course of The- 
ological studies, shall furnish satisfactory evidence of 
his being a member, in full communion and in good 
standing, of a Reformed Protestant Church; of his 
piety, abilities, and literary attainments ; and there- 
upon shall be admitted into one of the Theological 
Schools ; and, during the prosecution of his studies 
there, shall be subject to the rules and regulations 
thereof ; and, when he shall have completed the pre- 
scribed course and term of Theological studies, shall be 
admitted to an examination according to the regulations 
of the Schools, as established by the General Synod ; 
and, if found qualified, shall receive a professorial 
certificate to that effect, which shall entitle him to an 
examination for licensure before the Classis to which 
he belongs. 

Sec. 3. In the examination, strict attention shall 
be paid to the attainments of the student, not only in 
the original languages of the Sacred Scriptures, in 
Biblical literature, in composition, and his method of 
sermonizing, but he shall be especially examined re- 



Sec. iv.] 



MINISTERS. 



17 



specting his knowledge in Theology, his orthodoxy, 
his piety, and his views in desiring to become a 
preacher of the Gospel. 

Sec. 4. Whoever, upon examination, shall be ap- 
proved by the Classis, must, before he is licensed, at- 
test his adherence to the doctrines of the Gospel, by 
subscribing the following formula, viz : 

"We, the underwritten, testify, that the Heidel- 
berg Catechism, and the Confession of the Nether- 
land churches, as also the Canons of the National 
Synod of Dordrecht, held in the years 1618 and 
1619, are fully conformable to the Word of God. 
We promise, moreover, that, as far as we are 
able, we will, with all faithfulness, teach and de- 
fend, both in public and private, the doctrines es- 
tablished in the standards aforesaid. And, should 
ever any part of these doctrines appear to us du- 
bious, we will not divulge the same to the people, 
nor disturb the peace of the Church, or of any 
community ; but will communicate our sentiments 
to the ecclesiastical judicatories under which we 
stand, and subject ourselves to the counsel and sen- 
tence of the same." 

Sec. 5. After subscribing the aforesaid formula, 
the candidate shall be entitled to a certificate, or 
testimonial, signed by the President of the Classis 
before which the examination is held, containing a 
license to preach the Gospel ; which license may, for 
cause, be revoked by the Classis. 

Sec. 6. Any person of whose gifts, piety, and 
promise of usefulness the Classis is satisfied, may 
be recommended by the same to the General 



18 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. ii 



Synod for a dispensation from any of the above 
requirements as to study. Such recommendation 
shall always be accompanied by a full statement of 
the reasons for the same. And no dispensation shall 
in any case be granted except by the General Synod, 
and on the recommendation of the Classis. 

Sec. 7. A candidate for the ministry may not, 
under any pretense whatever, administer the Sacra- 
ments ; nor can he be a delegate to represent a 
church in any ecclesiastical assembly. 

Sec. 8. Every candidate for the ministry is to 
consider himself under the immediate direction 
of the Classis which examined him, and is to visit 
such congregations, and preach in those places to 
which the Classis shall send him ; but, if no partic- 
ular directions are given, he may preach at his own 
discretion in any congregation that shall invite him. 

Sec. 9. A candidate who has accepted a call 
must be examined for his becoming a Minister. 
In this final examination, besides a repetition of 
his previous trials in composition and sermonizing, 
the original languages of the Sacred Scriptures, 
Biblical Literature, and his knowledge of Theology, 
as well Didactic as Polemic, he shall be interro- 
gated respecting the nature and administration of the 
Sacraments, the duties of the ministry, and his knowl- 
edge of Ecclesiastical History and of Church Gov- 
ernment. 

Sec. 10. Upon giving satisfaction in this examina- 
tion, the candidate shall subscribe the following for- 
mula, viz : 

"We, the underwritten, in becoming Ministers 



Sec. x.] 



MINISTERS. 



19 



of the Word of God, within the bounds of the 
Classis of N. N., do hereby sincerely, and in good 
conscience before the Lord, declare, by this our sub- 
scription, that we heartily believe, and are persuaded, 
that all the articles and points of doctrine contained 
in the Confession and Catechism of the Reformed 
(Dutch) Church, together with the explanation of 
some points of the aforesaid doctrine made in the 
National Synod, held at Dordrecht, in the year 1619, 
do fully agree with the Word of God. We promise, 
therefore, diligently to teach, and faithfully to defend, 
the aforesaid doctrine, without either directly or in- 
directly contradicting the same by our public preach- 
ing or writings. We declare, moreover, that we not 
only reject all errors that militate against this doc- 
trine, and particularly those which are condemned 
in the above-mentioned Synod, but that we are dis- 
posed to refute and contradict them, and to exert 
ourselves in keeping the Church pure from such 
errors. And, if hereafter any difficulties or different 
sentiments respecting the aforesaid doctrine should 
arise in our minds, we promise that we will neither 
publicly nor privately propose, teach, or defend the 
same, either by preaching or writing, until we have 
first revealed such sentiment to the Classis, that the 
same may be there examined ; being ready always 
cheerfully to submit to the judgment of the Classis, 
under the penalty, in case of refusal, to be ipso facto 
suspended from our office. And, if at any time the 
Consistory, or Classis, upon sufficient grounds of sus- 
picion, and to preserve the uniformity ana purity of 
doctrine, may deem it proper to require of us an ex- 



20 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. li 



planation of our sentiments respecting any particular 
article of the Confession of Faith, the Catechism, or 
the explanation of the National Synod, we do hereby 
promise to be always willing and ready to comply 
with such requisition, under the penalty above men- 
tioned, reserving, however, to ourselves, the right of 
an appeal, whenever we shall conceive ourselves 
aggrieved by the action of the Consistory or Classis ; 
and, until a decision is made upon such appeal, 
we will acquiesce in the determination and judgment 
already passed." 

Sec. ii. The Classis before which the examina- 
tion of a candidate is held shall fix a day for his 
ordination, which ordination shall be conducted by 
the Classis with proper solemnity; a sermon suited to 
the occasion shall be preached, and the promises, 
directions, explanations of duty, with a laying on of 
hands, shall be agreeable to the form for that end 
expressly made and adopted ; after which a certificate 
of his ordination, signed by the President, shall be 
given. 

Sec. 12. The office of a Minister is to persevere 
in prayer and the ministry of the Word ; to dis- 
pense the Sacraments; to watch over his brethren, 
the Elders and Deacons, as well as over the whole 
congregation ; and lastly, in conjunction with the 
Elders, to exercise Christian discipline, and to be 
careful that all things be done decently and in good 
order. Every Minister must consider himself as 
wholly devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ in the serv- 
ices of the Church, and shall faithfully fulfill the 
obligations of his call, in preaching, catechising, and 



Sec. xiii.] 



MINISTERS. 



21 



visiting his flock ; and be instant in season and out of 
season ; and, by word and example, always promote 
the spiritual welfare of his people. 

Sec. 13. No person shall be ordained to the min- 
istry of the Word, without settling in some congrega- 
tion, except for missionary or other ministerial work 
under the direction of the Classis, or in foreign lands ; 
and no person, when ordained, shall be at liberty 
to relinquish his calling as a Minister for any secular 
avocation, except for important reasons, concerning 
which the Classis shall inquire and determine. 

Sec. 14. Ministers who, by reason of old age, or 
habitual sickness and infirmities, either of mind or 
body, are not capable of fulfilling the duties of the 
ministry, may, upon application, and sufficient proof 
of such incapacity being made to the Classis, be de- 
clared emeriti, and be excused from all further serv- 
ices in the Church during such infirmity ; reserving, 
however, to them the title, rank, and character which, 
before such declaration, they enjoyed. In all such 
cases, before the Classis declares any Minister 
emeritus, they may require a stipulation in writing 
from the Consistory to which he belongs, under their 
common seal, and signed by their President, to pay 
such Minister annually, in half-yearly payments, dur- 
ing his exemption from pastoral service, for his sup- 
port, such sum as the Classis shall deem reasonable, 
having due regard to the stated salary of such Minis- 
ter, and the situation and ability of the congregation. 
This stipulation shall at any time be subject to modi- 
fication or discontinuance by the Classis. 

Sec. 15. For the regular application for dismission 



22 



CONSTITUTION. 



[art. ii. 



of a Minister from his charge, it is required that a 
neighboring Minister of the same Classis to which the 
congregation belongs, be invited to be present, and 
superintend the application for said dismission of the 
Minister from his congregation, countersign it, and 
deliver it, with a report upon the subject, to the 
Classis, which report and document shall serve as a 
basis upon which the final dismission and certificate 
of the Classis shall be founded. But it is provided, 
that whenever either Minister or Consistory shall not 
join in the application, that fact shall be plainly stated 
in the report above described, in which case no dis- 
mission shall be made by the Classis except after a 
hearing of both Minister and Consistory in open 
Classis, of which hearing ten days' notice shall have 
first been given to both parties by the President of the 
Classis, whose warrant for such notice, and call of 
Classis, shall be the report as above described. Nor 
shall any dismission be effected under circumstances 
now specified, except by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members of the Classis present., 

Sec. i 6. All Ministers of the Gospel are equal in 
rank and authority ; all are Bishops or overseers in 
the Church ; and all are equal stewards of the mys- 
teries of God. No superiority shall, therefore, be ever 
claimed or acknowledged by one Minister over an- 
other; nor shall there be any lords over God's herit- 
age in the Reformed (Dutch) Churches. 

Sec. 17. Consistories of vacant congregations shall 
not invite or permit Ministers of other denominations, 
whose characters and standing are not known, to 
preach within their bounds, unless they exhibit satis- 



Sec. xviii.J 



MINISTERS. 



23 



factory evidence in writing, of a recent date, of their 
regular authority for that purpose, and their good 
standing ; and, in all doubtful cases, such Consis- 
tories shall consult a Standing Committee of Classis, 
to be appointed for that purpose. 

Sec. i 8. The Classis shall receive no Licentiates 
or Ministers under their care from any body of pro- 
fessing Christians who maintain doctrines different 
from those of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, without 
an open and explicit declaration, on their part, that 
they have renounced such doctrines, as contrary to 
the Holy Scriptures, and the standards of our Church. 

Sec. 19. If any application be made for the ad- 
mission of a Licentiate or Minister from other 
churches, it shall be the duty of the Classis to subject 
him to such examination as shall enable them to pro- 
ceed with freedom in his case. 



24 



CONSTITUTION. 



LArt. iiL 



ARTICLE III. 

OF TEACHERS OF THEOLOGY. 

Sec. i. As it is of the greatest importance that 
Professors of Theology should be sound in the faith, 
possess abilities to teach, and have the confidence of 
the churches, they shall always, for the greater secu- 
rity, be chosen and appointed by a vote of three-fourths 
of the members present in the General Synod. To 
prevent as far as possible, the unhappy consequences 
of partiality, haste or undue influence in obtaining an 
office of such consequence to the Church, a nomina- 
tion of one candidate not necessarily of its own mem- 
bers, may be made by each Classis, provided that 
such nomination be made twenty days before the 
meeting of the General Synod, and the name of the 
nominee be sent at once by the Stated Clerk of each 
Classis so nominating to the Stated Clerk of the Gen- 
eral Synod. Nominations additional to those made 
by the Classes not to exceed three may also be 
made by the General Synod, provided that no elec- 
tion of a Professor of Theology shall ever be made 
on the same day on which he is nominated. From all 
those thus nominated the General Synod having fixed 
a day shall proceed to an election, provided that no 
one nominated shall be set aside, except by the reg- 
ular process of balloting for an election. An instru- 
ment, certifying the appointment, and specifying the 
general duties of the office, shall be signed in the 



Sec. ii.J 



PROFESSORS. 



25 



presence of the General Synod, by the President 
thereof, and by him be given, in the name of the 
Church, to the person elected. 

Sec. 2. No person shall be appointed to the office 
of a Professor who is not a Minister in good standing ; 
and every Professor of Theology shall continue in his 
office during life, unless in case of such misbehavior 
as shall be deemed a violation of the obligations en- 
.tered into at his appointment ; or unless he voluntarily 
deserts or resigns his profession, or from age or in- 
firmities becomes incapable of fulfilling the duties 
thereof ; of all which the General Synod alone shall 
judge; and to that Synod a Professor of Theology 
shall always be amenable for his doctrine, mode of 
teaching, and moral conduct. 

Sec. 3. No Professor of Theology shall be per- 
mitted to officiate until he shall have subscribed the 
following formula, viz: "We, the underwritten, in 
becoming Professors of Sacred Theology in the Re- 
formed (Dutch) Church, by this our subscription, up- 
rightly, and in good conscience before God, declare 
that we heartily believe, and are persuaded, that all 
the articles, and points of doctrine, contained in the 
Confession and Catechism of the Reformed (Dutch) 
Church, together with the explanation of some points 
of the said doctrine, made in the National Synod, 
held at Dordrecht, in the year 161 9, do fully agree 
with the Word of God. We promise, therefore, that 
we will diligently teach, and faithfully defend, the 
aforesaid doctrine ; and that we will not inculcate or 
write, either publicly or privately, directly or indi- 
rectly, anything against the same. As, also, that we 



26 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. iii. 



reject not only all the errors which militate against 
this doctrine, and particularly those which are con- 
demned in the above-mentioned Synod, but that we 
are disposed to refute the same, openly to oppose them, 
and to exert ourselves in keeping the Church pure 
from such errors. Should it nevertheless hereafter 
happen that any objections against the doctrine might 
arise in our minds, or we entertain different senti- 
ments, we promise that we will not, either publicly or; 
privately, propose, teach, or defend the same, by 
preaching or writing, until we have first fully revealed 
such sentiments to the General Synod, to whom we 
are responsible; that our opinions may, in the said 
General Synod, receive a thorough examination, being 
ready always cheerfully to submit to the judgment of 
the General Synod, under the penalty, in case of re- 
fusal, to be censured by the said Synod. And when- 
ever the General Synod, upon sufficient grounds of 
suspicion, and to preserve the uniformity and purity 
of doctrines, may deem it proper to demand from us 
a more particular explanation of our sentiments re- 
specting any article of the aforesaid Confession, Cate- 
chism, or Explanation of the National Synod, we 
promise hereby to be always willing and ready to com- 
ply with such demand, under the penalty before men- 
tioned ; reserving to ourselves the right of rehearing, 
or a new trial, if we shall conceive ourselves aggrieved 
in the sentence of the General Synod ; during the 
dependence of such new trial, we promise to acquiesce 
in the judgment already passed, as well as finally to 
submit, without disturbing the peace of the churches, 
to the ultimate decision of the said General Synod." 



Sec. iv.J 



PROFESSORS. 



27 



Sec. 4. No Professor, while in office, shall have 
the pastoral charge of any congregation, or sit as a 
member of any ecclesiastical assembly or judicatory ; 
but, as a Minister of the Gospel, may preach, and 
administer, or assist in administering, the Sacraments 
in any congregation, with the consent of the Minister 
or Consistory. 

Sec. 5. A Professor shall not be at liberty to re- 
sign his office without the consent of the General 
Synod, except upon giving three months' previous no- 
tice to the President of that body, of his intention so 
to do. 

Sec. 6. A Professor of Theology, being amena- 
ble only to the General Synod, shall, when entering 
on the discharge of his duties, take a dismissal from 
the Judicatory with which he is connected; and on 
retiring from office shall be dismissed to such Eccle- 
siastical Judicatory as he may elect ; or in case of his 
failure so to elect, to the Judicatory from which he was 
dismissed to the care of the General Synod. 



28 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. iv. 



ARTICLE IV. 

OF THE OFFICES OF ELDERS AND DEACONS. 

Sec. i. The office of Elders is, in conjunction 
with Ministers of the Word, to exercise Christian dis- 
cipline, and to be careful that all things be done de- 
cently and- in order ; to take heed that the Ministers, 
together with their fellow Elders and Deacons, faith- 
fully discharge their respective duties ; and also, espe- 
cially before or after the Lord's Supper, as time and 
circumstances permit, and as shall be most for the 
edification of the congregation, to assist in performing 
visitations, in order particularly to instruct and com- 
fort the members in full communion, as well as to ex- 
hort others to the regular profession of the Christian 
religion. 

Sec. 2. The office peculiar to the Deacons is dili- 
gently to collect the alms and other moneys appropri- 
ated for the use of the poor, and, with the advice of 
the Consistory, cheerfully and faithfully to distribute 
the same to strangers, as well as to those of their own 
household, according to the measure of their respec- 
tive necessities ; to visit and comfort the distressed, 
and to be careful that the alms be not misused ; of 
the distribution of which they shall render an ac- 
count in Consistory, at such time as the said Consis- 
tory shall determine, and in the presence of so many 
of the congregation as may choose to attend. Should 
more be coUected than the necessities of the poor may 



Sec. iii.] ELDERS AND DEACONS. 



29 



require, such surplus may, with the consent of the 
Consistory, be devoted to other purposes, connected 
with the wants of the Church. 

Sec. 3. In all cases the Elders and Deacons shall 
be chosen from the male members of the Church in 
full communion. 

Sec. 4. In forming new churches, the Elders and 
Deacons shall be chosen by the male communicants, 
who shall have attained the age of eighteen years, and 
a neighboring Minister of the Reformed Church shall 
preside, and notice of the time and place of such 
election shall be published, at least two Sabbaths, in 
the church, or usual place of worship, previous to the 
election. 

Sec. 5. In churches already organized, the man- 
ner of choosing Elders and Deacons shall be as fol- 
lows : — A double number may be nominated by the 
Consistory, out of which the members of the Church 
in full communion who shall have attained the age of 
eighteen years may choose those who shall serve ; — 
or, all the said members may unite in nominating and 
choosing the whole number without a previous nomina- 
tion by the Consistory; — or, the Consistory for the 
time being, as representing all the members, may 
choose the whole. The result of such choice shall 
be published in the church, or usual place of worship 
of the congregation, three successive Sabbaths previ- 
ous to their ordination, to the end that all lawful 
objections to such ordination may be offered to, and 
duly adjudicated by, the Consistory. But where 
either of these modes has for many years been fol- 
lowed in any church, there shall be no variation or 



30 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Aht. iv. 



change but by application of the Consistory, or upon 
the application of a majority of the members of the 
Church in full communion to the Classis, and express 
leave first obtained for altering such custom. 

Sec. 6. The Elders and Deacons shall be chosen 
to serve two years, except in cases of vacancy oc- 
casioned by death, removal out of the congregation, 
resignation, or dismission from office by a judicial 
sentence of the Consistory ; in either of which cases, 
the person or persons chosen shall serve for the residue 
of the term only. 

Sec. 7. In order to avoid the inconvenience of an 
entire change at one time, the first Elders and Dea- 
cons of new congregations shall, at the first meeting 
of the Consistory after their ordination, determine, 
by lot, who of their number shall serve one year, and 
who shall serve two years ; so that one half of the 
whole number of both Elders and Deacons may 
thereafter be elected annually. The same course shall 
be pursued in enlarging Consistories, so far as relates 
to the additional members. Elders and Deacons may 
be re-elected, but in such case need not be re-or- 
dained. 



Sec. i.] 



ASSEMBLIES. 



31 



ARTICLE V. 

OF ECCLESIASTICAL ASSEMBLIES IN GENERAL. 

Sec. i. The Ecclesiastical Assemblies which shall 
be maintained are : 

1. Consistorial. 

2. Classical. 

3. Sy nodical. 

Sec 2. In these assemblies, ecclesiastical matters 
only shall be transacted, and that in an ecclesiastical 
manner. A greater assembly shall take cognizance of 
those things alone which could not be determined in a 
less, or that appertain to the churches or congrega- 
tions in general which compose such an assembly. 

Sec 3. The transactions of all Ecclesiastical As- 
semblies shall begin and conclude with prayer. 

Sec 4. Those who are delegated to attend the 
assemblies shall be admitted on credentials, signed by 
those who send them ; and such only shall be entitled 
to a vote. 

Sec 5. In all assemblies there shall be a Presi- 
dent and Clerk. The duty of the President shall be 
to state and explain the business which is to be trans- 
acted, to preserve order, and, in general, to maintain 
that decorum and dignity becoming a Judicatory of 
the Church of Christ. The duty of the Clerk shall 
be to keep a faithful record of all the proceedings. 

Sec 6. A Classis has the same jurisdiction over a 



32 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. v. 



Consistory which a Particular Synod has over a 
Classis, and the General Synod over a Particular. 

Sec. 7. No member of an Ecclesiastical As- 
sembly shall be allowed to protest against any of 
its acts; any member who dissents from any such 
acts shall have a right to require the names of all the 
members present who vote for or against the same, to 
be entered in the minutes, and published therewith for 
the information of all concerned. 



Sec. !.] 



CONSISTORIES. 



33 



ARTICLE VI. 

OF CONSISTORIES. 

Sec. i. The Elders and Deacons, together with 
the Minister or Ministers, if any, shall form a Con- 
sistory, and the Minister shall preside at all consistorial 
meetings; but, in the absence of a Minister, the 
Consistory may appoint one of the Elders to be their 
President pro tem. y and it shall be competent for the 
several Consistories to prescribe the mode and time 
of calling their meetings. If there be a plurality of 
Ministers, they shall preside in rotation. 

Sec. 2. When joined together in one Board, the 
Elders and Deacons have an equal voice in whatever 
relates to the temporalities of the Church, to the call- 
ing or dismission of a Minister, or the choice of their 
own successors ; in all which they are considered as 
the general and joint representatives of the people. 
But in admitting members to full communion, and in 
dismissing them to other churches ; in exercising 
discipline upon those who have erred from the faith, 
or offended in morals ; and in choosing delegates to 
attend the Classis, the Elders, with the Ministers, have 
alone a voice. 

Sec 3. No Consistory shall be constituted in any 
place without the previous advice and concurrence of 
Classis. 

Sec. 4. A majority of the Consistory, regularly 
convened, shall be a quorum for the transaction of 



34 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. vi. 



business ; and, in like manner, a majority of Minis- 
ters and Elders alone, or of Deacons alone, so con- 
vened, shall be a quorum respectively. It shall be the 
duty of the Consistory, when an election shall have 
been omitted at the usual time, to appoint another 
time for that purpose, on an early day, giving the like 
notice as herein above prescribed ; and, in like man- 
ner, to provide for filling vacancies. 

Sec. 5. As the spiritual government of the congre- 
gation is committed to the Ministers and Elders, it is 
their duty at all times to be vigilant, to preserve disci- 
pline, and to promote the peace and spiritual interest of 
the congregation. Particularly before the celebration 
of the Lord's Supper, a faithful and solemn inquiry is to 
be made by the President, whether, to the knowledge 
of those present, any member in full communion has 
departed from the faith, or in walk or conversation has 
behaved unworthy the Christian profession; that such 
as are guilty may be properly rebuked, admonished, 
or suspended from the privilege of approaching the 
Lord's Table, and all offenses may be removed out of 
the Church of Christ. 

Sec. 6. None can be received as members in full 
communion, unless they first shall have made a con- 
fession of their faith before the Minister (if any) and 
the Elders, or have produced a certificate of their be- 
ing members in full communion of some Evangelical 
Church; all such shall be published to the congrega- 
tion, and be registered as regular members in the 
Church. 

-Sec. 7. In every congregation, a distinct and fair 
register shall be preserved by the Minister of every 



Sec. viii.] 



CONSISTORIES. 



35 



baptism and marriage there celebrated, and of all who 
are received as members in full communion. It shall 
be the duty of the several Consistories to make a sta- 
tistical report to the Classis at their meeting immedi- 
ately preceding the annual meetings of the Particular 
and the General Synod, according to such formula as 
the General Synod shall prescribe, and accompany the 
same with such remarks on the spiritual state of the 
congregation as they may deem proper. 

Sec. 8. Every Consistory shall keep regular min- 
utes of its meetings and proceedings, and shall lay 
such minutes, so far as the same relate to ecclesiastical 
proceedings, at least once a year, before the Classis 
with which it is connected, for their information. 

Sec. 9. It shall be incumbent upon members of 
the- Church, in removing from the bounds of one church 
to another, to obtain from the Consistory a certificate 
of membership and dismission. 

Sec. 10. Consistories possess the right of calling 
Ministers for their own congregations, except where 
otherwise provided for by charter. But, in exercising 
this right, they are bound to use their utmost endeavors, 
either by consulting with the Great Consistory or with 
the congregation at large, to know what person would 
be most acceptable to the people. 

Sec. 11. A Minister of the Classis must be invited 
to superintend the proceedings, whenever a Consistory 
is desirous of making a call. The instrument is to be 
signed by the members of the Consistory, or by the 
President in the name of the Consistory ; and if the 
Church be incoporated, it is proper to affix the seal of 
the corporation. When the call is completed, it must 



36 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. vi. 



be laid by the Consistory before the Classis, and be 
approved by the same, before it can be presented to 
the person called ; and if the call be accepted, the 
name of such Minister shall be published in the church 
three Sabbaths successively, that opportunity may be 
given for stating lawful objections, if any there be. 
When any circumstances shall, in the judgment of 
the Consistory, make the presiding of their own Min- 
ister at its own sessions undesirable, they may,, on the 
request of their pastor, invite a Minister of their own 
Classis to preside on the occasion. 

Sec. i 2. For the purpose of uniformity, the form of 
a call shall be as follows : 

"To N. N. 

" Grace, Mercy, and Peace, from God our Father, 
and Jesus Christ our Lord. 

" Whereas, the Church of Jesus Christ at is 

at present destitute of the stated preaching of the Word, 
and the regular administration of the ordinances, and 
is desirous of obtaining the means of grace, which God 
hath appointed for the salvation of sinners, through 
Jesus Christ his Son : And whereas, the said Church 
is well satisfied of the piety, gifts, and ministerial quali- 
fications of you, N. N., and hath good hope that your 
labors in the Gospel will be attended with a blessing : 
Therefore, we {the style and title of the said Church) 
have resolved to call, and we hereby solemnly, and in 
the fear of the Lord, do call you, the said N. N., to 
be our pastor and teacher, to preach the Word in 
truth and faithfulness, to administer the holy Sacra- 
ments agreeably to the institution of Christ, to maintain 



Sec. xii.] 



CONSISTOBIES. 



37 



Christian discipline, to edify the congregation, and 
especially the youth, by catechetical instructions ; and, 
as a faithful servant of Jesus Christ, to fulfill the whole 
work of the Gospel ministry, agreeably to the Word of 
God, and the excellent Rules and Constitution of our 
Reformed (Dutch) Church, and to which you, upon 
accepting the call, must with us remain subordinate. 

" In fulfilling the ordinary duties of your ministry, 
it is expressly stipulated, that, besides preaching upon 
such texts of Scripture as you may judge proper to select 
for our instruction, you also explain a portion of the 
Heidelberg Catechism on the Lord's Days, agreeably 
to the established order of the Reformed (Dutch) 
Church ; and that you further conform in rendering 
all that public service which is usual, and has been in 
constant practice in our congregation. The particular 
service which will be required of you is (here insert a 
detail of such particulars, if any there be, which the 
situation of the congregation may render necessary ; 
especially in case of combinations ', when the service re- 
quired in the respective congregations must be ascer- 
tai?ied ; or when the Dutch and English languages 
are both requisite, the proportion of each may be 
mentioned or left discretionary, as may be judged 
proper). 

" To encourage you in the discharge of the duties 
of your important office, we promise you, in the name 
of this Church, all proper attention, love, and obedience 
in the Lord ; and to free you from worldly cares and 
avocations, while you are dispensing spiritual blessings 
to us, we {the Elders and Deacons, etc., the style and 
title of the Church) do promise and oblige ourselves 



38 



CONSTITUTION 



[Art. vi. 



to pay to you the sum of , in payments, 

yearly, and every year as long as you continue the 
Minister of this church, together with {such particulars 
as may refer to a parsonage or other emoluments). 
For the performance of all which, we hereby bind our- 
selves, and our successors, firmly, by these presents. 
The Lord incline your heart to a cheerful acceptance 
of this call, and send you to us in the fullness of the 
blessing of the Gospel of peace. 

"Done in Consistory, and subscribed with our 
names, this day of , in the year of ." 

Attested by N. iV., Moderator of the call. 

Sec. 13. Since it is deemed of the highest im- 
portance that there should be regular instruction on 
the great articles of the Christian faith, in order to 
preserve the truth, and to promote the prosperity of 
the Church, every Minister shall, in the ordinary 
morning or afternoon service on the Lord's Day, 
explain the system of the Christian doctrine compre- 
hended in the Heidelberg Catechism adopted by the 
Reformed Churches, so that, if practicable, the ex- 
planation may be annually completed, but shall never 
be extended beyond the term of four years. The 
several Classes shall, at their stated meetings, pre- 
ceding the annual meeting of General Synod, make 
strict inquiry whether the preceding part of this 
section has been fully complied with by every Min- 
ister, and if any Minister shall be found deficient, 
without sufficient reason, the Classis shall inflict such 
censure as they in their wisdom may judge the 
omission to merit ; and the several Classes shall make 
a full and faithful report of the result of their in- 



Sec. xiy.] 



CCWSISTOKIES. 



quiries and doings on this behalf to the Particular 
Synod. 

Sec. 14. When any Minister shall be duly con- 
victed of any offense which affects the purity of his 
clerical character, he shall, in consequence of such 
conviction, be suspended from his office ; and if the 
conviction and suspension shall be sustained on a 
final appeal, his pastoral connection with the con- 
gregation in which he was settled shall be, ipso facto, 
dissolved. 

Sec. 15. Consistories which have hitherto com- 
bined with one or more neighboring Consistories, in 
making calls, and having a Minister to serve in com- 
mon, may not at pleasure break such combination ; 
but whenever their situation and circumstances render 
them capable of severally calling a Minister, a repre- 
sentation thereof must be made to the Classis, and 
leave be first requested and obtained, before their 
former connections can be dissolved. 

Sec. 16. As in calling a Minister, Consistories are 
bound to consult with the Great Consistory, or with 
the congregation at large, so when other matters of 
peculiar importance occur, relating to the peace and 
welfare of the whole congregation, they are strongly 
recommended to seek such advice. All who have 
ever served as Elders or Deacons, constitute, when 
assembled, what is called the Great Consistory ; but 
being out of office, and not actually members of the 
Board of Cnmoration, they have only an advisory 
voice. 



40 



CONSTITUTION. 



[ART. vii. 



ARTICLE VII. 

OF THE CLASSIS. 

Sec. i. A Classis consists of all the Ministers, and 
an Elder delegated by each Consistory within the 
bounds prescribed by Particular Synod. Collegiate 
Churches shall be entitled to an Elder for each ordinary 
worshiping assembly. To constitute a Classis, at least 
three Ministers and three Elders are required. 

Sec. 2. Classis shall have the power of approving 
or disapproving calls ; constituting and dissolving the 
pastoral relation; ordaining, installing, suspending, 
deposing, and dismissing Ministers. They shall have 
the power of forming and disbanding congregations, 
of approving and dissolving combinations of two or 
more congregations ; and of exercising a general 
superintendence over the spiritual interests and con- 
cerns of the several churches, and an appellate super- 
vising power over the acts, proceedings, and decisions 
of the Consistories relating to Christian discipline. 

Sec. 3. The peculiar prerogative of Classes, that 
of examining students of Theology for their becoming 
candidates for the ministry, and of candidates for their 
becoming Ministers, is very important, and must always 
be attended to with great prudence, zeal, and fidelity. 
Every student of Theology, when he shall have become 
prepared for examination for licensure, shall present 
himself for such examination to the Classis within 
whose bounds he resided when he entered upon his 



Sec. iv.] 



CLASSIS. 



41 



preparatory studies, and a candidate who has re- 
ceived a call must be examined by the Classis under 
whose jurisdiction the church that has made the call is 
placed. 

Sec. 4. Every Classis shall keep a book, in which 
the forms of subscriptions for candidates and Ministers 
of the Gospel are fairly written, which those who are 
examined and approved shall respectively subscribe in 
the presence of the Classis. It shall also be the duty 
of every Classis, annually, to report to the Synod all 
persons who have been examined and licensed, as well 
as those who have been ordained; and also, all 
removals of Ministers from one place to another, or 
by death, which may have happened within the juris- 
diction of such Classis, since the last session of Synod. 

Sec. 5. Whenever the examination of a candidate 
for the ministry, the approbation of a call, or any 
other special business, shall render an extraordinary 
meeting of the Classis necessary, it shall be the duty 
of the President of the Classis, upon application being 
made to him for that purpose, to call, by circular let- 
ters, the members together. And, whenever two 
Ministers and two Elders belonging to the Classis 
shall, upon any occasion, request in writing, under 
their hands, an extraordinary meeting, the President 
of the Classis may not refuse calling the same ; pro- 
vided that the expenses attending all extraordinary 
meetings of the Classis shall be paid by the person or 
congregation at whose request, or for whose benefit, 
such session is held. 

Sec. 6. The meetings of the Classes shall be semi- 
annual, at such times as they may respectively de- 



42 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. Yii. 



termine ; and at every ordinary session there shall be 
a sermon, or other devotional services, or both. 

Sec. 7. The Classes shall, at their meeting next 
preceding that of the Particular Synod, appoint dele- 
gates to attend the said Synod, and nominate delegates 
to the General Synod ; and, at the same meeting, shall 
put to the Ministers and Elders, respectively, the fol- 
lowing inquiries, and enter in detail the several an- 
swers given by each Minister and Elder, on the min- 
utes, for the information of the higher Judicatories : 

1 st. Are the doctrines of the Gospel preached in 
your congregation in their purity, agreeably to the 
Word of God, the Confession of Faith, and the Cate- 
chisms of our Church ? 

2d. Is the Heidelberg Catechism regularly explained 
agreeably to the Constitution of the Reformed (Dutch) 
Church? 

3d. Are the catechising of the children and the in- 
struction of the youth faithfully attended to ? 

4th. Is family visitation faithfully performed ? ; 

5th. Is the 5th Sec, 6th Art., in the Constitution 
of our Church, relating to the conduct of Church 
members, carefully obeyed, previous to each com- 
munion ? 

6th. Is the temporal contract between Ministers 
and people fulfilled in your congregation ? 

7th. Is a contribution made annually by your con- 
gregation to each of the Benevolent Boards and Funds 
of the Church ? 



Sec. i.] 



PARTICULAR SYNOD. 



43 



ARTICLE VIII. 

OF THE PARTICULAR SYNOD. 

Sec. i . Every Particular Synod shall comprehend a 
certain number of Classes to be designated by the 
General Synod, and shall consist of four Ministers and 
four Elders from every Classis within its bounds ; and 
six Ministers and six Elders, when regularly convened, 
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi- 
ness. 

Sec. 2. To the Particular Synod belongs the power 
to form new Classes, to transfer a congregation from 
one Classis to another, to exercise a general superin- 
tendence over the spiritual interests and concerns of 
the several Classes within its bounds, and an appellate 
supervising power over their acts, proceedings, and 
decisions relating to Christian discipline. 

Sec. 3. Every Synod shall be at liberty to solicit 
and hold correspondence with its neighboring Synod 
or Synods, in such manner as shall be judged most 
conducive to general edification. 

Sec. 4. A copy of the minutes of every session of 
the several Classes held since the last session of Synod, 
shall, at the opening of the Synod, be produced and 
laid on the table for the inspection of the members. 
The Particular Synod, from the several reports of the 
Classes, on the state of religion, shall prepare a Syn- 
odical Report, to be presented to the General Synod, 
accompanied with the statistical tables of said Classes,, 



44 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. viii. 



Sec. 5. The Particular Synod shall meet annually, 
at such time and place as they may determine ; and 
special meetings may be held for the transaction of 
any extraordinary business, upon the written request 
of four Ministers and four Elders to the President of 
the Synod ; and, in such case, it shall be the duty of 
such President to give notice to the members of Synod 
of such meeting three weeks previous thereto, stating 
the particular object for which the Synod is to be 
convened. 



Sec. i.j 



GENERAL SYNOD. 



45 



ARTICLE IX. 

OF THE GENERAL SVNOD. 

Sec. i . The General Synod shall consist of tnree 
Ministers and three Elders from each of the Classes, 
composed of fifteen or less than fifteen churches ; and 
an additional representation of one Minister and one 
Elder shall be allowed for each additional five 
churches. These persons shall be nominated by the 
Classes to the Particular Synod to which they belong, 
who shall have power to appoint them delegates to the 
General Synod ; but, for good cause, it may appoint 
other persons than those so nominated ; or, in case no 
nomination is made, may appoint the delegates for 
the Classis or Classes who shall have omitted to nom- 
inate. The body thus constituted shall be called 
" The General Synod of the Reformed Church in 
America." 

Sec. 2. The removal of any delegate, during the 
period for which he was appointed, from the Classis 
which he was commissioned to represent, shall vacate 
his seat in the General Synod. 

Sec. 3. The General Synod shall meet annually, 
at such time and place as they may determine ; and 
twelve Ministers and twelve Elders, when regularly 
convened, shall be a quorum for the transaction of 
business. 

Sec. 4. The General Synod shall have original 
cognizance of all matters relating to the Theological 



46 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. ix 



Schools, the appointment of Professors, and their 
course of instruction ; the appointment of Superin- 
tendents of said schools, and the regulations thereof ; 
and shall possess the power of regulating and main- 
taining a friendly correspondence with the highest 
judicatories or assemblies of other religious denomi- 
nations, for the purpose of promoting union and con- 
cert in general measures which may be calculated to 
maintain sound doctrine, prevent conflicting regula- 
tions relative to persons under Church censure, by 
the judicatories of either denomination, and to pro- 
duce concert and harmony in their respective proceed- 
ings to promote the cause of religion and piety. 

To the General Synod belongs the power to consti- 
tute Particular Synods, and to make any changes in 
the same ; to exercise a general superintendence over 
the spiritual interests and concerns of the whole 
Church, and an appellate supervising power over the 
acts, proceedings, and decisions of the lower assem- 
blies, relating to Christian discipline. 

To the General Synod also belong the power and 
duty to institute and organize such general agencies 
as shall best enable the church to fulfil the command 
of the Lord Jesus Christ by which He has enjoined on 
all His disciples the duty of teaching all nations and 
preaching the gospel to every creature ; to maintain, 
supervise and direct such agencies when erected in the 
conduct of missionary operations at home and abroad ; 
and to recommend such methods in the churches as 
shall effectively sustain such agencies and tend to 
secure the largest possible dissemination of the gospel. 

Sec. 5. When, in the circumstances of missionary 



Sec. vi.j 



GENERAL SYNOD. 



47 



fields, it shall be impracticable for a Classis to comply 
with all the requirements of the Constitution, the 
General Synod shall have full power to grant such dis- 
pensation as the wants of the case may demand. 

Sec. 6. If circumstances should require a meeting 
of the General Synod previous to the next ordinary 
meeting, the President shall, on a joint application of 
six Ministers and six Elders requesting the same, call 
an extraordinary meeting at the place where the next 
ordinary meeting is appointed to be held, or at such 
other place as may be determined by the President, 
Vice-President, and Stated Clerk of the General 
Synod ; notice of which meeting shall be given to 
members of Synod at least three weeks previous to the 
time of such meeting, stating the particular business 
for which it is called, not, however, excluding the 
transaction of such other business as the Synod may 
deem proper. 



tg 



CONSTITUTION, 



[Art. x. 



ARTICLE X. 

OF CUSTOMS AND USAGES. 

Sec. i. The Sacrament of Baptism shall, if pos- 
sible, be administered in the Church, or some other 
place of public worship, at the time of public wor- 
ship ; and the form for Baptism shall in every case 
be retained. But it is recommended that no private 
baptism shall be administered without the presence of 
at least one Elder, who shall accompany the Minister 
for that purpose. 

Sec. 2. Every church shall observe such a mode 
in the administration of the Lord's Supper as shall 
be judged most conducive to edification ; provided 
that the Form for the administration of the Lord's 
Supper shall be read, and a prayer suited to the 
occasion shall be offered, before the members partici- 
pate in the ordinance. 

Sec. 3. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper shall 
be administered at least twice a year, and it is recom- 
mended that the same be administered once every two 
or three months. 

Sec 4. For the purpose of uniformity in the order 
of worship, it is recommended that the following order 
be observed by all the Churches : 
1 st. Invocation. 
2d. Salutation. 

3d. Reading the Ten Commandments, or some 
other portions of Scripture, or both. 



Sec. v.] 



CUSTOMS AND USAGES. 



49 



4th. Singing. 
5th. Prayer. 
6th. Singing. 
7th. Sermon. 
8th. Prayer. 

9th. Collection of x\lins. 
10th. Singing, 
nth. Benediction. 

The order of the afternoon and evening services to 
be the same as the morning, excepting that the Apos- 
tles' Creed or the Nicean Confession of Faith be sub- 
stituted for the reading of the Ten Commandments. 

Sec. 5. No Psalms or Hymns may be publicly 
sung in the Reformed (Dutch) Churches but such 
as are approved and recommended by the General 
Synod. 

Sec. 6. No Catechisms shall be used in the 
Sabbath-schools of the Church but such as are ap- 
proved and recommended by the General Synod. 



50 



CONSTITUTION. 



[akt. xi. 



ARTICLE XI. 

OF DISCIPLINE IN GENERAL. 

Sec i. Discipline is the exercise of the authority 
which the Lord Jesus Christ has given to His 
Church. Its objects are the vindication of the 
honor of Christ, the promotion of the purity and 
general edification of the Church, and the benefit of 
the offender. 

Sec. 2. Nothing shall be admitted as matter of 
accusation, or considered an offense, which cannot 
be shown to be such from Scripture, or the laws and 
regulations of the Church. 

Sec. 3. All baptized persons are members of the 
Church, are under its care, and subject to its govern- 
ment and discipline. 



Sec. i.] 



OFFENSES. 



51 



ARTICLE XII. 

OF OFFENSES. 

Sec. i. Private offenses are those that are known 
to an individual only, or at most to a very few. 

Sec, 2. Such offenses are not immediately to be 
presented before a Church Judicatory, but the offender 
shall be dealt with according to the mode pointed out 
by our Lord in Matt, xviii. The same course shall 
be adopted in cases of personal or private injuries; 
but if, on due forbearance, these tender and Christian 
proceedings are unavailing, the whole matter shall be 
represented to the Judicatory to which the offender is 
amenable. 

Sec. 3. Informers who have not taken these pre- 
vious steps shall be considered as guilty of an offense 
against the peace and order of the Church, and be 
censured accordingly. 

Sec. 4. Public offenses are those that require the 
cognizance of a Church Judicatory • being so notori- 
ous and scandalous that no private measures would 
obviate their injurious effects. 

Sec. 5. When any person is charged with an of- 
fense, not by an individual, but by general rumor, the 
previous steps prescribed by our Lord in case of pri- 
vate offenses are not necessary, but the proper Judica- 
tory is bound to take immediate cognizance of the 
matter. 



52 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. xii. 



Sec. 6. To constitute a general rumor, or fama 
clamosa, it is necessary — 

i st. That it specify some particular sin or sins. 

2d. That it should have obtained general circula- 
tion. 

3d. That it be not transient. 

4th. That it shall be accompanied with strong pre- 
sumption of its truth. 

Sec. 7. The following are to be considered as the 
principal offenses that deserve the punishment of sus- 
pension or removal from office, viz : Heresy, Public 
Schisms, open Blasphemy, Simony, faithless Desertion 
of Office or intruding upon that of another, Slander, 
Lying, Perjury, Adultery, Fornication, Theft, For- 
gery, Acts of Violence, Drunkenness, Scandalous 
Traffic \ in short, all such sins and gross offenses as 
render the perpetrators infamous before the world, and 
which, in a private member of the Church, would be 
considered as deserving excommunication. 

Sec. 8. In admitting accusations against a Minis- 
ter or Elder, the rule prescribed in 1 Tim. v. 19 shall 
always be observed, and accusers must come forward 
openly to support the charge. 

Sec. 9. If Ministers of the Word have committed 
any public, gross sin, which would render their ap- 
pearance in the pulpit under such circumstances highly 
offensive, it shall be the duty of the Consistory, in 
order to prevent scandal, to close the pulpit against 
such criminal, and refer him to be tried by the Classis 
as soon as possible. The proceedings of the Consis- 
tory in such cases are at their peril, and are not to be 
considered as a trial, but only a prudent interference, 



Sec. x.] 



OFFENSES. 



53 



and binding over the person accused to the judgment 
of his peers. 

Sec. io. In case of like offenses by an Elder or 
Deacon, the Consistory shall immediately proceed to 
his trial, and, upon conviction, he shall be forthwith 
suspended from his office, and excluded from the 
privileges of the Church. 

Sec ii. If any member of the Church shall be 
duly convicted of an infamous crime by any civil 
court, he shall, ipso facto, be suspended from any ec- 
clesiastical office with which he may be invested, and 
excluded from the privileges of the Church, until he 
shall have established his innocence, or manifested his 
repentance to the Ecclesiastical Judicatory to which 
he is amenable. 



54 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Akt. xiii. 



ARTICLE XIII. 

OF PROCESS AND TRIAL. 

Sec. i. Offenses may be brought before a Judica- 
tory by individual accusation or common fame. In 
the former case, the process must be in the name of 
the accuser or accusers. In the latter, no person need 
be named as the accuser. 

Sec. 2. In exhibiting charges, the time, place, and 
circumstances shall be accurately stated in writing, 
that the accused may be enabled the better to defend 
himself. 

Sec. 3. Great caution is to be exercised in receiv- 
ing accusations where there is good reason to believe 
that they are preferred through passion or improper 
and unchristian motive ; or where the accuser is un- 
der censure, or not of good character, or has the 
prospect of temporal advantage. 

Sec 4. All citations shall be issued and signed by 
the President or Clerk, who shall also furnish citations 
for such witnesses as may be required on either side. 

Sec 5. A copy of the accusation shall be furnished 
to the accused at the time when the citation is served ; 
which citation shall designate the time when, and 
place where, the accused shall put in his answer. 
Not less than ten days shall be allowed to intervene 
between the time when the citation is served and the 
answer received ; and no shorter period shall be al- 
lowed between receiving the answer of the accused 



Sec. vi.] PROCESS AND TRIAL. 



55 



and the trial of the case, unless by consent of all the 
parties interested. 

Sec. 6. When the accused refuses to obey the ci- 
tation, he shall be cited a second time, which second 
citation shall always be accompanied by a notice, that, 
if he still refuses to appear at the time and place ap- 
pointed, he shall not only be liable to censure for con- 
tumacy, but that the Judicatory will proceed to the 
trial and decision of his case as if he were present. 

Sec. 7. In cases where it is demanded by either 
party, a commission of the Judicatory may be ap- 
pointed by it to take testimony at a distance; of 
which commission, and of the time and place of their 
meeting, due notice shall be given to all the parties. 

Sec. 8. To establish an accusation against any 
member of the Church, the testimony of more than 
one witness is required. The witnesses, after being 
sworn or duly affirmed, shall be examined in the pres- 
ence of the accused, and he shall be permitted to 
cross-examine them. Yet, if two or more witnesses 
bear testimony each to different acts of the same gen- 
eral nature, this, if not disproved, shall be considered 
sufficient to establish the accusation. The evidence 
shall be faithfully minuted and subscribed by the wit- 
ness, and in this final form, with the sentence or de- 
cision, be entered on the records; and the parties 
shall be allowed copies of the same, at their own ex- 
pense, if desired. 

Sec. 9. No accusation shall be admitted unless 
brought forward by the accuser within the space of 
two years after the crime shall be alleged to have been 
committed ; excepting when it shall appear that un- 



56 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. xiii. 



avoidable impediments prevented .ie bringing an 
accusation sooner, and at the trial the accuser shall 
not sit in judgment upon the case. 

Sec. io. No professional counsel shall be permitted 
to appear and plead in cases of process in any of the 
ecclesiastical courts ; but, in the trial of any case 
before a Consistory, a member of the Classis may be 
employed to prepare and conduct the case on either 
side. And, in the higher courts, if any accused per- 
son feel unable to represent and plead his own case to 
advantage, he may request, or the President may 
appoint, any Minister or Elder belonging to the 
Judicatory before which he appears to prepare and 
conduct his case as he may judge proper. But the 
Minister or Elder so engaged shall not be allowed, 
after pleading the case of the accused, to sit in judg- 
ment as a member of the Judicatory. 

Sec. ii. Such as obstinately reject the admonitions 
of the Consistory, or have been found guilty of the 
commission of an otherwise gross offense, shall be sus- 
pended from the Lord's Supper, which act of suspension 
may be published at the discretion of the Consistory : 
and, being suspended and repeatedly admonished with- 
out discovering marks of repentance, the Church shall 
then proceed to the last remedy, namely, Excom- 
munication ; agreeably to the adopted form, and con- 
formably to the Word of God. But no person shall 
be excommunicated without the previous approval of 
the Classis. 

Sec. 12. Before the Church proceeds to excom- 
munication, the obstinacy of the offender shall be 
publicly notified to the congregation, declaring his 



SEC.xiii.] PROCESS AND TRIAL. 



57 



offenses, together with the particular care and attention 
bestowed on him, by admonition, suspension from the 
Lord's Table, and by repeated remonstrances. This 
procedure shall be comprised in three several steps. 
In the first instance, the name of the offender shall 
not be mentioned, that he may in some measure be 
spared. In the second, with the advice of Classis, his 
name shall be expressed. In the third, the congre- 
gation shall be informed, that, unless he repenteth, he 
will be excluded from the communion of the Church \ 
so that, if he remain obstinate, his excommunication 
may take place with their tacit approbation. The 
interval between these notifications shall be at the dis- 
cretion of the Consistory. 

Sec. 13. When an excommunicated person be- 
comes penitent, and is desirous of being again recon- 
ciled to the Church, such desire shall be publicly 
declared to the congregation, either before the ad- 
ministration of the Lord's Supper, or at some other 
seasonable opportunity ; that, if no objections are 
offered, he may, on declaring his repentance, be 
publicly readmitted to a participation of the Lord's 
Supper, agreeably to the form appointed for that 
purpose. 



58 



CONSTITUTION. 



[ART. XiV. 



ARTICLE XIV. 

OF APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS. 

Sec. i. Any member of the Church, conceiving 
himself to be personally aggrieved or injured by the 
decision of a Judicatory, may appeal therefrom to the 
next higher Judicatory. Also, a Consistory or Classis 
considering itself aggrieved by the judgment or censure 
of a higher Judicatory, enjoys the same right of appeal. 

Sec. 2. Any one intending to appeal from an act 
or decision of a Judicatory, must at the time of the 
action, or within ten days thereafter, give notice of 
such intention to the President of the body from whose 
action he intends to appeal. Within ten days after 
such notice he shall send to said President in writing 
the appeal, with the reasons thereof. On default of 
this, the appeal falls. 

Sec. 3. An appeal made by a Judicatory must be 
made by it as such regularly convened, and the appeal, 
with the reasons thereof, must be sent in writing to the 
President of the body appealed from, within twenty 
days of the action from which the appeal is taken. On 
default of this, the appeal falls. 

Sec. 4. If an appellant give notice and satisfactory 
reasons to the President of the Judicatory to which the 
appeal is made, that he cannot attend at the next stated 
meeting of that body, his appeal shall lie over to the next 
following stated meeting. But if he fail to appear, and 



Sec. v.] APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS. 59 



prosecute his appeal without such notice and reasons, 
it is to be considered as relinquished. 

Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of every Judicatory 
that has tried a case originally or by appeal, in 
recording its decision, to set forth at length the reasons 
thereof, that the record may exhibit, as far as prac- 
ticable, everything that had an influence on its judg- 
ment. 

Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of any Judicatory from 
whose act or decision an appeal is made, to transmit a 
certified copy of the action appealed from, signed by 
the President, and countersigned by the Clerk, to- 
gether with the appeal and reasons accompanying the 
same, to the Judicatory appealed to, at the next regular 
meeting thereof, and the papers thus transmitted shall 
be considered the documents in the case. 

Sec. 7. An inferior Judicatory shall be permitted 
to send a commissioner to the one appealed to, for the 
purpose of making explanations relative to the case ; 
it being expressly understood, that the original parties 
in the case shall have the same right of being heard 
in every stage of the trial, from one court to an- 
other. 

Sec. 8. For all cases that have originated in the 
Consistory, the Particular Synod shall be the Final 
Court of Appeal, except when as many members of 
the Particular Synod as there are Classes connected 
with the Synod shall, within ten days of its adjourn- 
ment, declare in writing to the President that the case 
adjudicated is a proper one for appeal to the General 
Synod. In such case, an appeal, if constitutionally 
made, shall be entertained by the General Synod, 



60 



CONSTITUTION. 



[Art. xiv. 



Sec. 9. In order to prevent vexation and delay 
in the judicial proceedings of any Ecclesiastical As- 
sembly by means of successive appeals in the progress 
of any trial or investigation, the party who may con- 
sider himself aggrieved by any decision, upon any 
incidental question which may arise before a final 
sentence is pronounced, may state his objections to 
such decision, and require to have the same noted in 
the minutes of the proceedings, to the end that he 
may avail himself thereof on an appeal from the final 
sentence, without arresting the progress of such in- 
vestigation or trial. And in such cases every decision 
objected to, as well as the objections, shall be dis- 
tinctly stated in the minutes of such assembly, and 
sent up with the appeal to the appellate Judicatory for 
review. 

Sec. 10. Individuals who have voted in a lower 
court upon a case which is carried up by appeal, or 
who have prepared and conducted such case, shall not 
be at liberty to vote upon the trial of the appeal in the 
higher courts. 

Sec. 11. If a minority or any member of a minor- • 
ity of any inferior Church Judicatory shall consider 
any subordinate decision or any part of the formal 
proceedings to have been so erroneous, as injuriously 
to affect the interests of truth or of vital godliness, 
they may present the same by way of complaint to 
the next higher Judicatory for its examination and 
decision. 

Sec. 12. This complaint, if entertained, brings 
the whole record of the case under the review of the 
superior Judicatory. 



SBC.xiii.] APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS. 



61 



Sec. 13. No such complaint shall be entertained 
except after notice given to the President of the body 
complained of, and the sending of the complaint, 
and reasons for it, as prescribed in cases of appeal. 



62 



CONSTITUTION. 



[AKT. XV. 



ARTICLE XV. 

OF RULES AND AMENDMENTS. 

Sec. i. The General Synod shall have power to 
make all such rules and regulations as may be nec- 
essary for carrying the foregoing articles into execu- 
tion, except where provision is thereby made for that 
purpose. 

Sec. 2. No alteration shall ever be made to the 
foregoing articles but by previous recommendation 
from the General Synod to the respective Classes, and 
the consent of a majority of the same to such pro- 
posed alteration, together with the final declarative 
resolution of the General Synod for the time being ; 
and the articles as thus determined and declared shall 
be and are the authoritative and only Constitution of 
the Reformed Church in America. 



Appendix. 



I.— FORMULARIES. 
No. i. 

Form of a Professorial Appointment. 
To the Rev. , 

The General Synod of the Reformed Church in 
America, reposing confidence in your piety, learning, 
and talents, have elected you a Professor in their 

Theological Seminary at . The branches in 

which you are to instruct the youth committed to 

your charge are, , with such modifications 

as the Synod may hereafter direct. 

To free you from worldly cares and avocations, 
while discharging the duties of your office, we 
promise and oblige ourselves to pay to you the sum 

of , in payments, yearly and every 

year, as long as you continue Professor in our Semi- 
nary as aforesaid. For the assumption of the 
powers, and the execution of the duties of your office 
in the Theological Department of the Seminary, this 

63 



64 



APPENDIX. 



is your commission, and may the Head of the Church 
render your labors useful and pleasant. 
Signed by order of the Synod, 

, President. 

Done in General Synod, 
this day of , 1 9 — . 



No. 2. 
Form of License. 

To all whom it may concern, In the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, the great Head of the Church, we 
send greeting : 

Be it known, that : — , having presented to 

the Classis of testimonials of his literary and 

theological requirements from the Professors of the 

Theological Seminary at , was admitted to an 

examination in the Hebrew and Greek languages, and 
the different branches of Theology as prescribed in 
the Constitution of the Reformed Church in America, 
and that the Classis being well satisfied of his gifts, 
piety, and qualifications to preach the Gospel, did, in 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and 

Head of the Church, resolve that the said^ — - 

be, and hereby is, allowed and authorized as a candi- 
date for the sacred ministry within their bounds, and 
wherever the providence of God may call him, to 
preach the Gospel of our blessed Lord and Saviour. 
And the said Classis recommend him to the' esteem 
and attention of all those to whom these presents may 
come, as well qualified to preach a crucified Saviour. 



FORMULAS. 



65 



The Classis do fervently pray, that the great Head 
of the Church may further qualify him for the work 
of the ministry, and make him eminently useful in 
that part of His vineyard where he may be called. 

Done in Classis, in the , on this 

day of , 19 — . 

, President. 

, Clerk. 



No. 3. 

Form of Testimonial of Ordination. 

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great 
Head of the Church, to all whom it may concern, we 
send greeting : 

Be it known that was admitted by the 

Classis of to an examination on the different 

branches of Theology, as prescribed in the Constitu- 
tion of the Reformed Church in America, preparatory 
to ordination, and the Classis being well satisfied with 
his gifts, piety, and qualifications to preach the Gos- 
pel and administer the Sacraments, did, in the name 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and Head of the 

Church, resolve that the said be ordained 

;o the Gospel ministry, and in conformity to said reso- 
lution did, on the day of , set him 

apart solemnly to the work of the sacred ministry, ac- 
cording to the rites and forms of the Reformed 
Church, and receive him into ministerial communion. 
And the said Classis do recommend him to the esteem 
and attention of all those to whom these presents shall 



66 



APPENDIX. 



come, as qualified to preach the Gospel, and to ad- 
minister the Sacraments of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The Classis do fervently pray that the great Head 
of the Church may abundantly qualify him for the 
work of the ministry, and make him eminently useful 
in that part of the vineyard where he may be called 
to labor. 

Done in Classis, at , on this day 

of , 19—. 

, President. 

, Clerk. 



No. 4. 

Form of a Certificate of the Dismission of a Minister 
from his Congregation. 
This certifies that the undersigned, by request, was 
present at a meeting of the Consistory of the Church 

of , on the day of , a. d., 

, and superintended the proceedings thereof, 

when it was resolved that an application be made to 
the Classis of for a dissolution of the pas- 
toral connection between the Rev. and said 

Church ; and that the Rev. declared his 

concurrence in such application. 



No. 5. 

Form of Certificate of Dismission of Church Mem- 
bers.' 

This certifies that is a member in full 

communion of the Reformed Church of , in 



FORMULAS. 



67 



good and regular standing ; as such is at 

own request, dismissed, for the purpose of 

connecting with the Church of 

, to whose Christian fellowship and confi- 
dence is hereby affectionately commended ; 

and when received by them, peculiar rela- 
tion to this Church shall cease. 

By order of Consistory. 

, President. 

Given at , , 19 — . 

flj^P~ This certificate is valid only for one year from its date, 
except where there has been no opportunity of presenting it. 



No. 6. 



Form of the Register of Baptisms. 



DATE OF 
BAPTISM. 


NAMES OF THE 
BAPTIZED. 


NAMES OF THE 
PARENTS. 


TIME OF 
BIRTH. 


REMARKS. 


N. B. — ] 


n recording t 
family 


ie name of tl 
or maiden nan 


e Mother, 
ie. 


give her 



68 



APPENDIX. 



No. 7. 

Form of Certificate of Marriage. 

To all whom it may concern : This certifies that 

the Bonds of Marriage between and 

were by me confirmed, according to the usages of the 

Reformed Church in America, on the day 

of , in the year of our Lord one thousand 

nine hundred and . 

Given at , this day of 

, a. d., 19—. 

j Minister of the Reformed 
[ Church in . 



FORMULAS. 
No. 8. 

Form of Consistorial Repon, 



69 



Office 
Address. 




IONS, j 


qBuoireSaaSuo^ 




TRIBUT 


H 
2 

O 


•sjoafqo J^qJO 




Con 


Benev 


-s^oafqo 

p3U0IJBUIUI0U9(J 




w 


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(A 


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cJ 


•suaumqo 
-9}^3 jo jaquiri^ 




• Q 
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pazijdBg jo pjjOT, 




Baptiz 


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75 


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flCANT 


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IVED. 


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•U0ISS3JU03 uo 




SHIHIMVjJ do HHaiMfljyJ 





^0 APPENDIX. 



No. 9. 

For?n of a Classical Report. 



Post 
Office 
Address. 


- 

(J 


[ Contributions. 


'lEUOiiugaaSuo^ 


Iters S 


Bknevol'nt 


•siosfqo JsqiO 


the lei 


[BUOIJ-BUIUI0U3Q 


gation 
ed, or 


in 


'ju3ui[joju3; {bjoj 


K S 


c/i 
*} 
U 
U 


■qooips jo :o N 


a | 


•suauinip 
-3}^3 jo asqiun^ 


2 p oJ 

- a; £ 


Baptized. 


sjui»Diunuiuio >uo^ 
pszijdBg jo 1*210 


ate 

is to 
his r 




X. 'Ji O 

_ ctf r ■> T3 


S}U12JUJ 


iritu 
;he ( 


Communicants. 


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-UIO^ UI MOU IBIOJ 


he sp 

kof t 

appe 


■p a ?a 


on t 
Cler 


•pspusdsns 


narks 
tated 


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Received. 







'U0ISS3JU03 UQ 


s 

s 

<u 


•saiiiui^j jo jaquin^ 


H 


'SHOISVJ 




•SHHDHflfQ 





FORMULAS. 



71 



No. 10. 

Form of the Citation of a Person Accused. 

By order of the ,* you, Mr. A. B. 

,f are hereby summoned j to appear before 

said , and answer to the charge herewith 

presented, at , on the day of , 

at o'clock . 

(Signed) , Pres. 

, Clerk. 

Done in , at , this 

— day of , ig—. 



No. ii. 

Form of the Citation of Witnesses. 

By order of the , § you, Mr. A. B. , || 

are hereby summoned \ to appear before the said 

* Consistory of the Reformed Church at , or the 

Classis of . 

\ Member of, or Elder, or Deacon in said Congregation ; 
or Minister at , under the inspection of said Classis. 

\ If the process be raised at the instance of a party com- 
plaining, add, after " summoned," at the instance of C. D. 

§ Consistory of the Reformed Church at or the 

Classis of . 

|| Member of, or Elder, or Deacon in said Congregation, or 

Minister at , under the inspection of said Classis ; 

and if the witness belongs to a different Judicatory, the blank 
is to be filled up accordingly. 

If the process be raised at the instance of a party com- 
plaining, add, after the word " summoned," at the instance of 
C. D. 



APPENDIX. 



, at , on the day of 

, and at o'clock in the , to 

give your testimony in the case of C. D., presently 

under process for censure by said . 

(Signed) - , Pres. 

, Clerk. 

[A committee was appointed by the General Synod, in 
October, 1832, (p. 134), to prepare certain Forms; the Stated 
Clerk was added to this committee in 1833 (p. 204), and in 
1834 (p. 289) the eleven Forms above given were adopted. 
Certain changes have from time to time been made in the 
columns of the Statistical Tables.] 

(General Synod, 1893, Minutes, p. 802.) 

Resolved, That the Stated Clerk and Permanent 
Clerk of General Synod be appointed a Committee to 
prepare a copy of the amended rules of the General 
Synod, and that the Board of Publication be directed 
to publish the same in all subsequent editions of the 
Constitution of our Church. 

They reported the following as the result of their 
labors to the General Synod in 1894. Embracing 
the Rules of Order, and rules relating to the Order 
of Business. 

II.— RULES OF ORDER. 

At every stated meeting of the Synod, a sermon 
shall be preached by the last President, either before 
his opening the session with prayer, or at some time 



RULES OF ORDER. 73 

afterward, which the Synod shall deem must conven- 
ient. If the last President and the Vice-President 
be absent, the oldest Minister present shall take his 
place and perform the above duties. 

2. The President and Vice-President shall be 
elected by ballot, by a majority of all the members 
present. The Clerks shall be elected by plurality. 

' The manner of electing the President shall be as 
follows : 

The time having arrived, and having been announced 
by the presiding officer ; 

First, a nominating ballot shall be taken, and each 
individual voted for shall be considered in nomination. 
If, however, any person shall on this ballot receive 
two-thirds ( f ) of the votes cast, he shall be deemed 
elected. If this is not the result, Synod shall proceed 
to an electing ballot. 

After the first electing ballot, without a choice, the 
voting shall be confined to the two receiving the 
greatest number of votes. 

3. The duties of the President shall be : 

(1.) To take the chair at the hour to which the 
Synod stands adjourned. 

(2.) To open and conclude with prayer. 

(3.) To direct the Clerk, immediately after the 
opening, to call the roll and announce the result. 

(4.) To censure absentees when their absence 
shall be judged not to have been necessary. 

(5.) To propound the subjects for deliberation. 



74 



APPENDIX. 



(6. ) To confine speakers to the point, and to save 
them from unnecessary interruption. 

(7.) To state and put the question, when the mem- 
bers are prepared to vote. 

(8.) To prevent members from leaving the Synod 
without permission. 

(9.) To decide questions of order, subject, however; 
to an appeal to the house by any two members. 

(10.) To give the casting vote in all equal divisions. 

(11.) And, in general, to maintain the order and 
dignity becoming the Judicatory of the Church of 
Christ. 

4. After calling the roll, the minutes of the last sit- 
ting shall be read, and considered as open to correction. 
The business on the minutes of the last meeting or sit- 
ting, shall, without powerful reasons, be taken up and 
concluded first, in the order in which it stands, before 
any new business be introduced. 

5. A motion made must be seconded, and after- 
wards repeated, or read aloud from the Chair, before 
it is debated ; and every motion, except a motion for 
adjournment, shall be reduced to writing if any mem- 
ber require it. 

6. An amendment may be made to any motion, 
and it shall be decided before the original motion. It 
may be, in its turn, suspended by an amendment to 
itself, which must first be considered and decided. 
But no additional amendment to an original motior. 
can be received until the previous one has been dis- 
posed of. 



RULES OF ORDER. 



75 



7. When a question is under debate, no motion 
shall be received except to adjourn, to lay on the 
table, to postpone indefinitely, to postpone to a certain 
time, to commit to a standing committee, to a select 
one, or to the committee of the whole, to amend, or 
for the previous question ; which motions shall have 
precedence in the order stated. 

8. When the previous question is moved and sec- 
onded, it shall be in this form: " Shall the main 
question be now put?" and until it be decided, all 
amendments and debate shall be inadmissible. If the 
vote be in the affirmative, the original motion shall be 
immediately put, without further amendment or debate. 
But if there be an amendment or amendments pending 
at the time, the question shall first be taken on such 
amendment or amendments in their proper order, with- 
out debate. If the vote be in the negative, the debate 
shall continue as before. 

9. A question shall not be called up or recon- 
sidered at the same session of the Synod at which it 
was decided, unless by consent of two-thirds of the 
members present. 

10. No member shall be allowed to protest against 
any of the acts of the Synod ; but any member who 
dissents from any such acts shall have the right to 
require the names of all the members present, who vote 
for or against the same, to be entered in the minutes, 
and published therewith for the information of all con- 
cerned. In other cases, the yeas and nays shall not 
be recorded unless on the demand of one-fifth of the 
members present. 

1 1 . The mover and seconder of a motion may with- 



76 



APPENDIX. 



draw it before debate has commenced on it, but not 
afterwards, unless by leave of Synod. 

12. In filling blanks, when various motions are made, 
the vote shall always be first on the highest number 
and longest time. 

13. Every member shall rise and address himself to 
the President only, closely attending to the subject in 
debate, avoiding all personal reflections ; and no mem- 
ber, without the special permission of the Synod, shall 
speak more than twice on the same subject. When 
two or more members rise to speak at the same time, 
the President shall determine who of them shall be 
heard first. 

14. After the President has begun to take the vote, 
or the Clerk to call the roll on a division of the house, 
no debate nor remark shall be allowed. 

15. A motion to adjourn or to lay on the table, 
and all motions in relation to priority of business, 
shall be decided without debate. The motion to post- 
pone or to commit shall preclude all debate of the 
main question. 

16. When an appeal is taken from a decision of the 
Chair on a point of order, the President shall have the 
right to explain the grounds of his decision, but the 
appeal shall be decided by the house without debate. 

17. No member shall leave the Synod to return home 
or for other business without their consent ; nor shall 
members, without express permission, engage in private 
conversation, go from or change their seats during the 
transaction of business; interrupt another when he is 
speaking, except he be out of order, or to correct mis- 
takes and misrepresentations ; and if any member act 



RULES OF ORDER. 



indecently or disorderly, contrary to these rules, the 
President shall reprove or otherwise censure him, as 
the Synod shall judge proper ; the member still having 
the privilege, if he think himself denied any right or 
unjustly blamed by the President, of respectfully and 
modestly requiring the decision of the house in the 
case. 

18. All the sittings of General Synod shall be con- 
cluded by regular adjournment and prayer. 

19. At the close of every session of General 
Synod the roll shall be called, and the names of 
those who are absent without permission shall be re- 
corded. 

20. Standing Committees : 

(1.) Board of Direction of the Corporation. 
(2.) Professorate and Theological Seminaries. 
(3.) Education, Academies, and Colleges. 
(4.) Sunday-schools and Catechetical Instruc- 
tion. 

(5.) Foreign Missions. 

(6.) Domestic Missions and Church Building 
Fund. 

(7.) Publication. 
(8.) Widows' Fund. 
(9.) Disabled Ministers' Fund. 
(10.) Overtures. 

(n.) Synodical Minutes and References. 
(12.) Judicial Business. 
(13.) Correspondence. 
(14.) Benevolent Societies. 
(15.) Systematic Beneficence. 



78 



APPENDIX. 



(16.) State of Religion. 
(17.) Necrology. 
(18.) Accounts. 
(19.) Leave of Absence. 

21. All distinctive titles or appendages to the 
names of members of Synod shall be omitted in 
recording the minutes of this Synod : such distinc- 
tive title being prefixed or appended to the name of 
the member in the list of members constituting the 
Synod. 

22. Primarii and Secundi : 

(1.) When a Primarius shall find it impracticable 
to attend the Judicatory to which he is delegated, it 
shall be his duty, as soon as may be, to notify a 
Secundus, and when he shall take his seat it shall not 
be vacated to give place to the Primarius. 

(2.) At the commencement of the session, the 
members delegated, whether Primarii or Secundi, 
shall be recognized and recorded, but when the 
Primarius shall appear at any subsequent period of 
the session, then the Primarius shall take the seat 
of the Secundus, and the Secundus shall not be con- 
sidered a member again, unless by request of the 
Primarius, and express permission obtained by the 
Synod. 

23. Judicial Business : 

(1.) Any appeal, complaint, or other judicial busi- 
ness, which shall be presented or reported to the 
Synod, shall be first referred, with all the papers and 
documents appertaining thereto, to the Committee on 



RULES OF ORDER. 



79 



Judicial Business, who shall inquire whether the same 
has been regularly brought before the Synod, and 
whether all the constitutional steps in the case have 
been taken, and, if the same shall be found in order, 
they shall digest and arrange all the papers and docu- 
ments connected therewith, that the subsequent pro- 
ceedings in the case before the Synod may be regular 
and systematic ; provided, nevertheless, that the said 
committee shall be required to report upon every 
matter that may be referred to them. 

(2.) Whenever any case thus reported shall be 
taken up for trial, the President shall solemnly an- 
nounce from the Chair that the Synod is about to pro- 
ceed to the consideration of judicial business, and 
enjoin on the members to recollect and regard their 
character as judges of the highest court of Jesus 
Christ on earth, known to the Constitution of the 
Reformed Church; after which it shall not be in 
order, during the pending of such trial, to transact 
any legislative business bearing on the case. 

(3.) In recording their decision, it shall be the 
duty of the court who have tried any judicial busi- 
ness in the original case, or by appeal, to set forth at 
length the reasons thereof, that the record may ex- 
hibit, as far as practicable, everything that had an in- 
fluence on their judgment ; a certified copy of which, 
with the act of proceeding appeal from, shall be sent 
up by them to the court to whom the appeal may be 
taken. Such inferior court shall also be permitted to 
send a commissioner to the Synod, for the purpose of 
making any explanations relative to said case, it be- 
ing expressly understood that in every case the 



80 



APPENDIX. 



original parties be not lost sight of in any stage of 
trial. 

(4.) In taking up an appeal, after having ascer- 
tained that the appellant has conducted it regularly, 
the following shall be the order of trial : 

[1.] The sentence appealed from shall be read. 

[2.] The appeal and reasons of appeal shall be 
read. 

[3.] All the documents in the case shall be read, 
in the order prescribed by the Committee on Judicial 
Business. 

[4.] The original parties shall be heard, commenc- 
ing with the appellant. 

[5.] The commissioner of the inferior Judicatory 
which has tried the appeal may be heard in explana- 
tion of the grounds of their decision, and of the man- 
ner of their proceeding in the case. 

[6.] The appellant may be heard in reply. 

(5.) After all the parties shall have been fully 
heard, and all the information gained by the Synod 
which shall be deemed necessary, the parties shall 
withdraw, when the roll shall be called, that every 
member may have an opportunity to express his 
opinion on the case, after which the final vote may be 
taken. 

(6.) The decision may be either to confirm or re- 
verse, in whole or in part, the judgment of the inferior 
Judicatory, or to remit the cause, with instructions, 01 
to order a new trial. 

(7.) In the trial of all judicial business brought be- 
fore the Synod by complaint or reference, the same 
order of proceedings shall be observed, as far as prac- 



ORDER OF BUSINESS. 



81 



ticable, as in cases of appeal, but no complaint shall 
be entertained unless notice of the same shall have been 
given before the rising of the Judicatory whose act is 
complained of, or within ten days thereafter. 

24. At each annual session of the Synod a person 
shall be appointed as Press Clerk, whose duty it shall 
be to secure in the daily press, as far as practicable, 
adequate and correct reports of the proceedings of the 
General Synod and accompanying meetings (1897, 

P- 557)- 

25. Religions Exercises : 

(1.) A part of the afternoon of the first day shall be 
devoted to exercises of prayer and praise. 

(2.) The first half-hourof each subsequent morning 
session shall also be so spent after the opening of the 
Synod with prayer. 

(3.) The Lord's Supper shall be observed on the 
evening of the second day. 

26. A rule of order may be suspended for the 
time by unanimous consent. 

27. These rules (except 20, 22 and 23) shall be read 
at the opening of each General Synod. 



III.— ORDER OF BUSINESS. 



FIRST DAY — WEDNESDAY. 

i. The Synod shall be called to order at precvely 
three o'clock p. m., on the day of meeting, by the 
President of the last Synod, or in his absence, by the 



82 



APPENDIX. 



Vice-President, or in the absence of both, by the 
Stated Clerk, when the oldest Minister present shal 
take the chair, and open the meeting with prayer. 

2. The Roll of Delegates shall be called. 

3. Immediately after the election of officers, accord 
ing to Rule 2, the following items of business shall be 
attended to : 

(a) Fixing the hours of meeting and adjournment. 

(b) Designating the bar of the house. 

(c) Appointment of Press Clerk. 

(d) Appointing a Committee on Devotional Exer- 
cises, which shall include the pastor of the church in 
which the Synod meets, who shall make arrangements 
for the Sacramental services, and shall also be a Commit- 
tee on Pulpit Supplies for the Sabbath. 

(/) Reading the Minutes of the last General Synod. 
(f) Devotional exercises until the hour of adjourn- 
ment. 

SECOND DAY — THURSDAY. 

After the opening of Synod, and the usual half-hour 
spent in exercises of prayer and praise (according to 
Rule 24), the following order shall be observed : 

1. Calling the Roll. 

2. Reading the Minutes of the previous sitting. 

3. Reading the Rules of Order. 

4. Reading the bequest of Rev. Elias Van Ben- 
>choten. 

5. Announcement of Standing Committees by the 
President. 

6. Call for Reports of Special Committees appointed 



ORDER OF BUSINESS. 



83 



by the last General Synod, including unfinished busi- 
iess laid over and referred to this Synod. 

7. Communications in the hands of the Stated Clerk. 

8. The Lord's Supper to be celebrated in the even- 
ing (1886, p. 205). 

THIRD DAY — FRIDAY. 

The evening of Friday, the third day of the session of 
Synod, shall be devoted hereafter to the consideration of 
the educational work of the church in a public meeting 
held for that purpose, suitable arrangements for which 
shall be made by the joint action of the Committee on 
Education, Academies and Colleges, and the Com- 
mittee on Sunday-schools and Catechetical Instruction 
(1*893, P- 785). 

Representatives of all societies and organizations not 
directly connected with the Reformed Church in 
America (except corresponding delegates of other eccle- 
siastical bodies) who may desire to personally address 
the Synod in behalf of the causes they represent, be 
permitted to do so, at the convenience of the Synod, 
during the Friday or Saturday of the opening week 
of Synod's session, and not upon any other day 
(1897, p. 698). 

SIXTH DAY — MONDAY. 

The first order of business on Monday afternoon, 
the sixth day of the session of General Synod, shall be 
the presentation of the report of Synod's Committer >n 
Foreign Missions, to be followed by a statement uf he 
Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions, by a uee 



84 



APPENDIX. 



discussion by the members of Synod on the matters 
involved, and by action on the Report of the Commit- 
tee. The evening session of this day shall be devoted 
exclusively to a popular meeting for addresses on be- 
half of Foreign Missions (1887, p. 443; and 1894, 
p. in). 



SEVENTH DAY — TUESDAY. 

1. The first order of business on Tuesday morning, 
the seventh day of the session of General Synod, shall 
be the presentation of the Report of General Synod's 
Committee on Education, Academies and Colleges, to 
be followed by a statement of the Secretary of the 
Board of Education, by a free discussion by the mem- 
bers of Synod on the matters involved, and by action 
on the Report of Committee (1900, pp. 735-6). 

2. The Report of the Committee on Domestic Mis- 
sions shall be heard in the afternoon (1893, p. 799). 

3. Tuesday evening shall be devoted to a popular 
meeting on behalf of Domestic Missions, and the first 
order of the day on Wednesday shall be the presenta- 
tion of the Report of the Synod's Committee on Do- 
mestic Missions, to be followed by a statement by the 
Secretary of the Board of Domestic Missions, by a free 
discussion by the members of Synod of the matters 
involved, and by action on the report of the Com- 
mittee. 

The arrangements for the popular meetings on Mon- 
day and Tuesday evenings are committed to the re- 
spective Boards (1887, p. 444). 



ORDER OF BUSINESS. 



85 



(General Synod, 1880, page 584.) 

The Secretary of the Board of Education shall be 
heard when the Report of the Committee on Educa- 
tion is presented. 

The Secretary, or representative of the Board of 
Publication, shall be heard when the Report of the 
Committee on Publication is presented. 

The following was presented by the Committee on 
Nominations and adopted : 

Resolved, That in the judgment of this Synod, it is 
desirable to have at least four members elected to each 
Board, who are not retiring members of that Board. 

Resolved, That the Stated Clerk be directed to 
bring this resolution to the attention of future Com- 
mittees on Nomination (1885, p. 778). 

The reception of Corresponding Delegates and the 
presentation of the Report of the Committee on Cor- 
respondence to be at the convenience of the Com- 
mittee and of the General Synod (1887, page 320). 

THE LEMMATA. 

The Committee appointed in 1885 to consider the 
order and rearrangement of the Lemmata, presented 
the following report in 1886, which was adopted : 

I. FORMATION OF THE SYNOD. 
(1886, pages 203-206.) 

ARTICLE. 

1. Opening of the Synod. 

2. Members present. 

3. Moderators. 

4. Reading of Minutes. 



?6 



APPENDIX. 



II. ACTS OF THE SYNOD. 



ARTICL 


E. 


I. 


Rules of Order. 


2. 


Standing Committees. 


3- 


Communications. 


4- 


Board of Direction of the Corporation. 


5- 


Professorate and Theological Seminaries. 


6. 


Education — Academies and Colleges. 


7- 


Sunday-schools and Catechetical Instruction. 


8. 


Foreign Missions. 


9- 


Domestic Missions and Church Building Fund. 


10. 


Publication. 


11. 


Widows' Fund. 


12. 


Disabled Ministers' Fund. 


I 3- 


Overtures. 


14. 


Synodical Minutes and References. 


I S- 


Judicial Business. 


16. 


Correspondence. 


17. 


Benevolent Societies. 


18. 


Systematic Benevolence. 


19. 


Church Government. 


20. 


Customs and Usages. 


21. 


Public Morals. 


22. 


State of Religion and Statistical Tables. 


2 3- 


Synodical Archives. 


24. 


Accounts. 


25- 


Particularia. 


26. 


Resumption and Close. 


27. 


Adjournment. 



The Standing Committees shall be as follows, and 
arranged in the order herewith submitted : 



PERMANENT RESOLUTIONS. 



STANDING COMMITTEES. 

1. Board of Direction of the Corporation. 

2. Professorate and Theological Seminaries. 
Note. — To consist of four Ministers and three Eldtio. 

to be divided into two sections, to each of which re- 
spectively shall be committed the matters pertaining 
to the Seminary at New Brunswick, and at Hope 
College, Mich. The report, however, shall be pre- 
sented as a whole, from the Committee. 

3. Education — Academies and Colleges. 

4. Sunday-schools and Catechetical Instruction. 

5. Foreign Missions. 

6. Domestic Missions. 

7. Publication. 

8. Widows' Fund. 

9. Disabled Ministers' Fund. 

10. Overtures. 

11. Synodical Minutes and References. 

12. Judicial Business. 

13. Correspondence. 

14. Benevolent Societies. 

15. Systematic Beneficence. 

16. State of Religion. 

Note. — To be constituted as prescribed by recent action 
of Synod. * 

* In the General Synod of 1883 (page 260), action was pro- 
posed to make the Committee on the State of Religion a per- 
manent Committee of the Synod. In 1884 (P a g e 4^5)j tne 
proposition of the preceding Synod was amended, adopted, 
md is as follows : 

1. Resolved, That the Committee on the State of Religion be 
a permanent Committee of this Synod. 

2. Resolved, That hereafter the President of each General 
Synod shall be, ex officio, the Chairman of the Permanent 
Committee on the State of Religion, and that the Staled Clerks 



88 



APPENDIX. 



17. Necrology. 

Note. — To be appointed a year in advance. 

18. Accounts. 

19. Leave of Absence. 

PERMANENT RESOLUTIONS. 

(General Synod, 1879, page 421.) 

Inasmuch as the Stated Clerk has been in the habit 
hitherto of transcribing into MSS. volumes the full 
Minutes of this General Synod, and inasmuch as this 
seems to be a useless labor, as from 1,000 to 1,400 
copies are annually printed, Therefore, 

Resolved, That the Stated Clerk be no longer 
required to make such transcriptions, but that a copy 
of the printed Minutes,- signed by the Stated Clerk, be 
considered as an official copy ; and that the original 
Minutes, signed by the officers of the Synod, together 
with all the original papers adopted by Synod, be 
carefully preserved in the archives. 

(General Synod, 1882, page 65.) 
Resolved, That the Correspondence of our Church 
with ail the bodies to which it sends fraternal greet- 
ings, hereafter be conducted by letter, unless the dis- 
tance and other circumstances make it entirely 
convenient and desirable for the appointed delegates 
to represent us in person. 

(General Synod, 1886, pages 205-6.) 

Resolved, That hereafter the nominations to fill 

vacancies in the several Boards of the Church be 

of the Particular Synods are hereby instructed to send the 
printed Minutes of the Synod to him, at the earliest practicable 
moment, that he may prepare a digest of the same. 



PERMANENT RESOLUTIONS. 



89 



made by the Synod's Standing Committee on the re- 
spective Boards. 

Resolved, That the persons nominated by the Com- 
mittees on the several Boards to fill the vacancies in 
the same, and those nominated by the Committee on 
Correspondence, shall, on the Synod's confirming the 
respective nominations, be considered elected. 

Resolved, That the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
be celebrated with the Church in whose house of wor- 
ship the sessions of the Synod is held on the evening 
of the second (2) day of the session. 

Resolved, That the Committee on the Professorate 
of the Eastern and Western Departments be combined 
into one Committee, with power to choose their own 
chairman. 

(General Synod, 1887, pages 443-4.) 
Resolved, That hereafter all printed documents be 
not read before the Synod, but referred to appropriate 
Committees, and copies placed in the hands of the 
members for examination. 

(General Synod, 1889, pages 834-5.) 
Resolved, That hereafter, the President of General 
Synod if not appointed as a delegate of the Classis to 
which he belongs, shall be entitled to the privileges of 
the succeeding General Synod as a corresponding 
member, with the right to participate in the discus- 
sions, but not to vote. 

(General Synod, 1889, page 924.) 
Resolved, That hereafter all details in regard to the 
entertainment of the members of the General Synod 
and other attendants upon its sessions (with the ex- 



APPENDIX. 



c eptioD of the assignment of rooms at the hotel, and 
k i al arrangements with the church) and in regard to 
fecial terms with railroads and boats, be committed 
to the Permanent Clerk, as the official representative 
and agent of the Synod. 

(General Synod, 1892, page 504) 
Resolved, That the Board of Direction be requested 
to appoint one from their number to attend the Meet- 
ings of the General Synod, in order that ii formation 
may be officially obtained as to matters affecting the 
financial interests of the Church, and that the neces- 
sary expenses of such member (when not a member 
of General Synod) shall be reimbursed him by said 
Board. 

(General Synod, 1894, P a g e 121.) 
Resolved, That hereafter when General Synod ar- 
ranges for the installation of a Professor in any of our 
Theological Seminaries, it shall also provide the funds 
for the printing of the Installation Services by the 
Board of Publication. 

(General Synod, 1894, page 134.) 
Resolved, That the whole work of printing the 
Minutes of Synod be committed to the Board of Pub- 
lication, in connection with the Stated and Permanent 
Clerks of Synod, with instructions to allow nothing to 
be issued that shall not be worthy of the imprimatur 
of said Board, and with reference to a judicious 
economy. 

(General Synod, 1900, pages 767-8.) 
Resolved, That whenever an Amendment to the 
Constitution or a change in the Rules of Order or the 
Order of Business, is adopted by the General Synod 
the Stated Clerk inform the Board of Publication of 
the same, and the Board be and hereby is enjoined to 
provide as soon as possible, printed slips of the same, 
to be attached by the Board in the proper place to all 
copies of the Constitution offered for sale or sold by 



PERMANENT RESOLUTIONS. 91 



the Board and to be furnished at nominal cost to all 
persons who may apply for the same. When new 
editions of the Constitution are issued such amend - 
nents and changes shall be incorporated in the text. 

[Certain " Rules of Order," for the transaction of the busi- 
ness of the General Synod, were first adopted in 1800 (pages 
276 and 310), and corresponded approximately to the first thir- 
teen of our present system. Amendments were made in 1806 
(page 346), and in 18 13 (pages 12, 33) a committee was ap- 
pointed to make a selection from all Rules of Order which had 
been adopted since 1792. These were published in an Ap- 
pendix to the Minutes, 18 14 (pages 62-64). In 1824 (page 6) 
rules concerning the rights of the Primarii and Secundi were 
adopted; and in 1840 (page 329) amendments were adopted 
concerning the election of the President and Vice-President, 
limiting the choice, after the first regular ballot, to the two 
highest candidates. In 1864 (page 463) a committee was ap- 
pointed to prepare " additional Rules of Order," who reported 
in 1865 (page 616), and the report was referred for final action 
to the Synod of 1866 (pages 86, 126), when our present Rules 
were adopted, except a few amendments which have been 
added since. 

In 187 1 (page 346) Rule 25 was changed from "The morn- 
ing of the third day of the session shall be devoted," etc., etc., 
to "A morning session shall be devoted," etc. In 1879 (pages 
320, 321) a " Standing Committee on Benevolent Institutions" 
was added to the list of Standing Committees ; also (page 379), 
the Clerks were directed to present to the next Synod an 
amended rule for the election of a Vedder Lecturer ; also (page 
400), " that the Stated and Permanent Clerks of the General 
Synod . . . reported to the Synod of 1880 a revision of 
Synod's Standing Order of Business." Their report was pre- 
sented and adopted, 1880 (pages 583, 584), and is given above. 
In 1885 (page 778) a resolution was adopted in reference to 
the choice of members in the different Boards (which is printed 
above), and a committee was appointed to rearrange the Lem- 
xiata in order to facilitate business. Their report was presented 
in 1886 (page 203), and is printed above. In 1887 (pages 
443-4) action was taken that printed documents be not read, 
but simply be referred, and certain times fixed, for popular 
meetings on Missions, and the hearing of the reports, which 
are given above. In 1893 Synod directed the Stated Clerk 
and the Permanent Clerk to prepare a copy of the Amended 
Rules, and they reported the foregoing to the Synod in" 1894.] 



Index. 



PAGE 

Amendments to the Constitution 62 

Appeals 58 

Assemblies, Ecclesiastical 31 

what kind of business to do . 31 

their officers 31 

must open and close with prayer 31 

members must have signed credentials 31 

Baptism, who may administer 20 

in what place 48 

must be recorded 34 

Baptized persons, members of the Church 50 

Call of a Minister, who may make it 35 

must be approved by Classis 39 

its form 36 

Candidate for the ministry, qualifications ........ 16 

cannot administer Sacraments 18 

is under care of Classis 18 

how to act upon calls . 18 

form of his license 64 

Canons of Dort to be assented to 17 

Catechizing of youth required 37, 42 

Censura Morum required 34 

Certificate, professorial 63 

of licensure . . 17, 64 

of ordination 65 

of dismission of a Minister 66 

of dismission of Church members 34, 66 

Citation, of accused persons 55, 71 

of witnesses 55, 71 

Classis, by whom formed 40 

92 



INDEX. 93 

PAGH 

Classis, what it consists of 40 

its power 40 

is to examine students 40 

must meet semi-annually 41 

special meetings, how called 41 

must send minutes to Particular Synod 42 

keep book of formula 41 

require statistics 35 

put yearly inquiries 42 

to report annually to the Synod licensures, ordinations, 

and removals of Ministers 41 

to appoint delegates to Particular Synod 43 

to nominate delegates to General Synod 42 

may form new Consistories 33 

separate combined 42 

authorize excommunication 40 

must have a Standing Committee on vacant congrega- 
tions 22 

Collegiate Churches, their representation in Classis . . 39 

Complaints, when allowed 58 

their effect 59, 60 

Consistories, how constituted • • • 33 

how chosen 33 

quorum 33 

the Minister to preside at their meetings 33 

have the right to call Ministers -35 

yet must consult Great Consistory or congregation at 

large 35 

must keep minutes and report to Classis 35 

observe Censura Morum 34 

Consistory, Great .... 35, 39 

Correspondence of Synods 43 

of General Synod with other bodies 45 

Counsel, professional, not allowed . 56 

Credentials of delegates to be signed 31 

Deacons, their office 28 

quorum 33 



94 INDEX. 

PAGE 

Deacons, rights in Consistory 33 

how chosen 28 

term of office 30 

joint powers with elders 28, 33 

Discipline, its objects 50 

nature 50 

its subjects 50 

Dismission of a member 53 

of a Minister 21, 52 

Dispensations from study, when and by whom granted . . 19 

Ecclesiastical Assemblies to open and close with prayer . 31 

Elders, office of 28 

have spiritual government 28 

how chosen 29 

quorum of 34 

joint powers with deacons 28, 33 

Emeritus, who and when declared 21 

Examination, of students 16 

of candidates 18, 40 

must be careful 40 

by whom made 40 

Excommunication, when allowed 56 

only by advice of Classis 56 

how conducted '. 57 

how reversed 57 

Fama C/amosa, what constitutes it 52 

Family Visitation, required . 21 

Foreign Missionary Fields, Synods allowed to grant dis- 
pensations there 4> 

General Synod, its constitution 45 

to meet annually 45 

General Synod, quorum of 45 

delegate's seat, when vacated 45 

original cognizance 46 

appellate jurisdiction 46 

special meetings 47 

Great Consistory, its nature and function 39 



INDEX. 95 

PAGE 

Heidelberg Catechism, to be assented to 37, 38 

to be regularly explained 37, 38 

Informers, liability of 5] 

(pso facto dismissions, of Ministers 35 

of members 5J 

Jurisdiction of a Classis over a Consistory defined .... 41 

Lord's Supper, by whom administered 16 

how often 48 

in what way administered 48 

suspension from 56 

Limitation of time for accusations ......... 55 

Marriages, to be recorded 34 

form of certificate of 68 

Members, how received 34 

how dismissed 35 

form of dismission 66 

Ministers of the Word, office of 20 

must be regularly ordained 26 

are all equal 22 

from other bodies to be examined before received . . 23 

to preside at all Consistorial meetings 33 

when suspended 39 

are for life 21 

may become emeritus 21 

Ministers without charge, limitation of 21 

Minutes, must be kept 35 

sent to Classis 35 

to Particular Synod 35 

to General Synod 35 

Offenses, private, nature of 50 

how to be dealt with 51 

Offenses, public, nature of 51 

principal ones . . 52 

limitation of time in bringing forward 55 

Ordination, how conducted 18 

Particular Synods, by whom constituted ....... 43 

of whom composed 43 



96 INDEX. 

PAGE 

Particular Synods, their powers 43 

their quorum 43 

meet annually 44 

annual report to the General Synod 44 

special meetings 44 

Permanent Resolutions S8-91 

Private Baptism, when allowed 48 

conditions of .48 

Process and Trial 54 

Professors of Theology, how chosen 24 

duties of 25 

must sign formula 25 

cannot be pastors or members of Church Judicatories 27 

are amenable to General Synod 27 

resignation of office 27 

Protests not allowed 32 

substitute for 32 

Psalms and Hymns, what allowed 49 

Quorum of a Consistory 33 

of a Classis . . , . 40 

of Particular Synod 43 

of General Synod 45 

Registers required 35 

Sacraments 48, 49 

who may administer 20 

Students in Theology, credentials required of . . . .16 

examination of 16 

Synods. See Particular and General. 

Temporal Contract, form of .... 36 

inquiry into 35 

Vacant churches, control of their pulpits 22 

Witnesses, to be sworn or affirmed 54 

how cited 54 

form of citation 71 

to be more than one • . . 56 

their evidence to be recorded 56 

Worship, Order of 48 



